Quick Hits About The Hounds
- Loyola University Maryland men's basketball heads on the road for a game on Saturday, January 20, at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
- Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Hart Center.
- The game will stream live on ESPN+.
- Golden Dike leads the Patriot League in field-goal percentage this season. He is shooting 58.5 percent from the field (62 of 106) through 18 games.
- Dike is second in the conference in rebounds per game (7.6).
- Deon Perry tops the Greyhounds with a 14.5 points per game average, a mark that is tied for fourth in the Patriot League this year. His 18.2 points per game through five conference games thus far is fourth in the conference.
- Perry has now played in 23 Patriot League regular-season games and is averaging 14.6 points in those contests (336 total).
- Milos Ilic has raised his scoring average from 7.2 points per game after a December 16 contest at George Mason to its current point of 8.8. Over a seven-game stretch, Ilic is second on the team with an 11.4 points per game mark.
- Ilic has shot 63.2 percent during those six games (31 of 49) to bring his second percentage to 53.0.
Watch The Action
- The Loyola-Holy Cross game will stream live on ESPN+. It will also be on linear television in the Massachusetts area on NBC Sports Boston.
Series History Versus Holy Cross
- Loyola and Holy Cross are set to meet for the 26th in series history and the 22nd time since Loyola joined the Patriot League for the 2013-14 season.
- The Crusaders hold a 13-12 lead in the all-time series after Loyola won a 73-69 decision in the Patriot League Championships First Round a year ago. The teams split last year's regular-season series with each winning on its own home floor last year. The Crusaders had a 63-55 win on January 8 in Worcester, Massachusetts, before the Greyhounds won, 90-68, in Baltimore in late February.
- Holy Cross is 8-3 all-time in games played in Worcester.
Last Time Out
- American shot 70 percent from the field in the second half and turned a two-point halftime lead into a 66-52 Patriot League victory over host Loyola on Monday night in Reitz Arena.
- A Deon Perry steal and fast-break basket 4:18 into the second half gave Loyola a 34-33 lead, but the Eagles went up by six less than two minutes later. Loyola then reeled off six in a row with baskets by D'Angelo Stines, David Brown III and Milos Ilic serving as the fuel.
- Geoff Sprouse knocked down a three 28 seconds after Ilic's basket to put American in front with 12:02 left in regulation, and the Eagles would lead for the rest of the game.
- Including Sprouse's basket, the Eagles made their next five field goals, and a transition dunk by Matt Rogers put American in front, 53-45, with 6:15 to play.
- Elijah Stephens led all players with 17 points for American, and Sprouse had 14.
- Ilic scored 11 and had a game-high eight rebounds for Loyola, and Stines added 10 and a career-best four assists.
Building On His Return
- Milos Ilic missed the entirety of the 2022-23 season while rehabbing a knee injury suffered on January 25, 2022, at Lafayette. His return this season has seen him start all 18 games – the only Loyola player to do so – averaging 25.4 minutes, 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
- After opening with five points at Florida, Ilic has scored nine points at Brown and then 12 against both Binghamton and Sacred Heart. He had four rebounds in each of the first four games before grabbing nine against the Pioneers.
- He had his first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds at La Salle, leading the team in rebounds with his first double-digit performance on the boards. He scored a season-high against another Atlantic 10 Conference opponent, registering 13 at St. Joseph's.
- Over the last seven games, Ilic is second on the team with an 11.4 points per game mark. Ilic has shot 63.2 percent during those seven games (31 of 49) to bring his second percentage to 53.0.
Two Of The Top Three
- Loyola's tandem of Golden Dike and Milos Ilic are two of the top three players who are qualified for the Patriot League leaders in field-goal percentage.
- Dike tops the conference at 58.5 percent, while Ilic has risen to third while shooting 53.0 from the field.
- Together, they are a combined 123 of 221 from the field this season, good for 55.7 percent. The rest of the Greyhounds are a combined 39.9 percent from the field.
Perry's Last Seven
- Deon Perry has increased his scoring output over the last seven games – including three games of 22 or more with a career-high 30 coming at Army West Point – to average of 18.3 over the stretch.
- The 2022-23 Patriot League All-Rookie guard has shot 42 percent from 3-point range during the stretch, averaging 3.0 made threes per game.
- Prior to the last seven games, Perry was 22 of 76 from 3-point range (28.9 percent) in the season's first 11 games.
- The seven games have boosted his scoring average by more than two points to 14.5. He is now tied for fourth in the conference in points per game and eighth (3.2) in assists.
- Perry has raised his career mark to 12.5 points.
Back To The Line
- Part of Deon Perry's recent success can be attributed to getting back to the free throw line where he excels as a shooter. He was 11 of 12 on January 10 at Army, logging career highs in free throws made and attempted.
- Last year, Perry averaged 16.2 points per game over Loyola's last 16 outings, raising his season scoring average from 6.9 on January 9 to 11.4 by the end of the 2022-2023 season. He did so in part by getting tot he line 53 times during the last 16 games and making 49.
- This year, Perry had gone to the free-throw line just 27 times in Loyola's first 15 games, but after the American game, he is tops in the conference with an 90.7 percent mark from the line, having made 39 of 43 this year.
Triple-Double Time
- Golden Dike logged the second triple-double in program history, and the first in almost 35 years, on January 6 against Lehigh when he scored 13, grabbed 11 rebounds and had 10 assists.
- His feat was the first for a men's basketball player at Loyola since Dave Wojcik turned in the first on February 4, 1989, during a home win over St. Francis (Pa.) with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
- Dike, who had six career double doubles coming into the January 6 game, had a career-best 10 assists in the contest against the Mountain Hawks, eclipsing her previous high of eight. As of January 11, his triple-double is one of 20 in NCAA Division I this year. At 6-foot-10, Dike is tied with UNC Asheville's Drew Pembler as the tallest player to post one this season.
Top 5 On The Boards
- With his ninth and final rebound against Sacred Heart, Golden Dike moved into a tie for 10th all-time at Loyola with 690 rebounds, matching Bernard Allen's total from 2001-05.
- Against Missouri, he became the 10th player in school history to grab 700 or more rebounds in a career. Later, in the game at St. Joseph's, Dike's season-high 14 rebounds vaulted him from ninth in school history to fifth all-time where he sits entering the Holy Cross game with 797. Mark Rohde (1972-76) is fourth in school history with 836.
- Dike has also risen the Patriot League's all-time charts and checks in 12th all-time with his 797 boards. Lafayette's Stefan Ciosci is 11th with 831.
Twenty Or More For Deon
- Deon Perry's 30-point effort at Army marked the 10th time in his 51 collegiate games that he has scored 20 or more. It was also the second time he has scored 20 or more in three-straight games after also doing so during February 2023.
- Since 2011-12, 10 Loyola players have scored 20 or more points 10 or more times. The only player to have done so in fewer games is Santi Aldama who had 14 20-plus point games in 27 Loyola games before he was a first-round draft pick of the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2021 NBA Draft.
- Three-pointers have been the spark to Perry's 20-point games. He has shot 43 of 88 from 3-point range in those nine games, good for 48.6 percent. In his other 41 games at Loyola, Perry is 75 of 212 (33.4 percent) from behind the arc.
- Loyola is 8-2 all-time when Perry scores 20 or more points.
Record-Setting Performance
- Loyola's shooting against St. Mary's on December 22, 2023, was on point as the Greyhounds set a school record by making 71.7 percent of their shots from the field (33 of 46). The program's previous best mark of 70.5 percent (31 of 44) came in January 1978 against Lehigh.
- In the win over the Seahawks, Loyola made 21 of 27 (77.8 percent) of its 2-point field goals while shooting 63.2 percent (12 of 19) from 3-point range. Loyola was 11 of 11 on 2-point attempts in the second half and shot 88.9 percent (16 of 18) overall after the break.
Stines Steps Up As Second Scorer
- D'Angelo Stines has been a solid second scorer for the Greyhounds this season behind Deon Perry, averaging 9.7 points though 18 games this year.
- Stines has scored 10 or more in 11 of the Greyhounds' 18 outings.
- He is the first incoming transfer to play for Loyola since Tavaras Hardy has been the head coach (dating to 2018-19). After spending two years at Old Dominion, the Baltimore-area native joined the Loyola program this offseason. Stines played in 55 games over two seasons for the Monarchs, making six starts and averaging 12.1 minutes per game. He averaged 2.5 points per game in those two seasons.
- The product of Baltimore Catholic League power Mount St. Joseph's High School made his Loyola regular-season debut at Florida and finished with 13 points, hitting 3 of 7 from 3-point range and 5 of 12 overall. He also had three assists against the Gators in 25 minutes.
Golden Efficiency
- Golden Dike led the Greyhounds in scoring for just the third time in his career at Loyola when he scored 16 points at Florida in the season opener, doing so with efficient fashion.
- Dike made all five shots he took from the field and six of his eight free throws. He then scored 14 points on 7 of 12 shooting in the win at Brown, and he went 6 of 7 for 15 points at UMBC.
- Through Loyola's first 18 games, he leads the Patriot League in shooting percentage at .585 (62 of 106).
- He entered the season ranked second in school history in field-goal percentage at 55.9 percent, a mark is now at 56.3 after the American game.
- His three games with 14 or more points, through 17 contests, are already more than he's had in any one of his previous seasons. He had two such games as a freshman, sophomore and senior, as well as a one during his junior season.
- Dike is in his fifth year at Loyola and pursuing his M.B.A. in the university's graduate studies program.
Faure Breaks Out
- Alonso Faure entered the November 25 game at Missouri averaging just 4.4 points per game while shooting 37 percent from the field, but the senior post player went 6 of 7 from the field against the Tigers, was the same from the free-throw line, and he had a game-high 18 points.
- The 18 points matched his career-high output He then led the Greyhounds with 16 points against Delaware State, and he had a team-best 14 at La Salle. He is now averaging 7.1 points per game, and his field-goal percentage is 51.1 percent.
- The native of Alicante, Spain, shot a team-best 58.1 percent from the field last year, making 115 of 198 shots to rank fifth in the conference in field-goal percentage; his 2-point field goal percentage was 63.6 percent (105 of 165). He has a career field-goal percentage of 54.0 percent that ranks fourth in school history.
The Spanish Affair
- Loyola took an eight-day, three-game trip to Spain during August that enabled the Greyhounds to play outside competition while spending time immersed in the culture of a foreign country.
- The Greyhounds visited the cities of Bilbao, Madrid and Alicante while also taking trips to San Sebastian and the town of Loyola, birthplace of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit order which founded the university.
- On the court, the Greyhounds went 2-1 with a win over a junior team from Bilbao and a professional select group from Madrid. Valencia's juniors edged the Greyhounds by three in their final game. Note: the junior teams were comprised of college-age players in Spain.
- Tyson Commander led the Greyhounds with a 16.0 points per game average in Spain, while D'Angelo Stines put up 14.7 and Deon Perry averaged 12.0. Golden Dike and Alonso Faure both nearly averaged double-doubles with each averaging 9.3 points per game; the former posted 12.7 rebounds per game and the latter 10.3.
At The Next Level
- Former Loyola standout Santi Aldama (SAHN-tee ALL-dah-muh) has made a considerable impact in his second NBA season during 2022-23. Aldama, who played for the Greyhounds from 2018-2020, earning 2019 Patriot League All-Rookie honors and then 2020 All-Patriot League First Team recognition, was a first-round pick of the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2021 NBA Draft.
- After seeing action in 32 games as a rookie, averaged 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Grizzlies in 77 games played.
- In 30 games this season, Aldama is averaging 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He led the Grizzlies with 24 points on November 14 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and he had a double-double with a career-high 28 points to go with 12 rebounds on November 19 against Boston. Aldama had his fourth double-double of the season, and second against San Antonio, with 13 points and 11 boards on January 2.
Up Next
- Loyola returns to the State of Maryland for its next two games, starting with a Wednesday, January 24, contest at home against Lafayette College.
- The Greyhounds then travel to Annapolis for a Saturday, January 27, game at the U.S. Naval Academy.
