Game Information
Opponent	Bucknell Bison
Game Notes	Loyola
Date	Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Time	7:00 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. | Reitz Arena
Tickets	Purchase
Directions	Click Here
Watch	ESPN+ | International Video Stream
Online Media	Live Stats

Quick Hits About The Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland men's basketball returns to Reitz Arena for the first of two games to close the regular season on Wednesday, February 28,
• The contest against Bucknell University is slated for 2 p.m. and will stream live on ESPN+.
• Golden Dike leads the Patriot League in field-goal percentage this season, shooting 56.5 percent from the field (96 of 170) through 27 games.
• Dike is also second in the conference in rebounds per game (6.8).
• Deon Perry tops the Greyhounds with a 17.2 points per game average, a mark that also leads the Patriot League this year. His 20.8 points per game through 15 conference games thus far tops the League, too.
• Perry has now played in 33 Patriot League regular-season games and is averaging 16.9 points in those contests (557 total).
• Perry is averaging 22.3 points per game in Loyola last 10 outings, scoring 21 or more points in seven of those games.
• Jordan Stiemke has started each of the last five games for the Greyhounds and has seen his production increase exponentially. He has scored career-highs in three of the games, including 23 at Boston University.

Watch The Action

• The Loyola-Bucknell game will stream live on ESPN+.

Series History Versus Bucknell

• Loyola and Bucknell will meet for the 29th time in series history on Wednesday and the 22nd time since Loyola joined the Patriot League for the 2013-14 season.
• The Bison hold a 21-7 all-time lead in the series after beating the Greyhounds, 67-52, on January 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
• Loyola swept the season series for the first time since joining the conference last year
• Loyola took a 67-57 decision in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, on January 11, 2023, for its first win on Bucknell's home floor since December 2011. The Greyhounds then scored an 80-66 victory in Baltimore 17 days later.
• The Greyhounds have won four of the last six games, prior to which the Bison had been victorious in 14 of 15 games. Bucknell is 9-4 all-time in Baltimore.

Last Time Out

• Alonso Faure banked in a 3-pointer from the center circle as the buzzer to end regulation sounded, sending Sunday's Patriot League game to overtime, but host Boston University scored with 11 seconds left to hold off Loyola, 82-79,
• Loyola trailed by 17 after a Nico Nobili three just 16 seconds into the second half, but the Greyhounds went on an 18-0 run over the next seven minutes to lead, 47-46, on a Faure dunk at 12:52.
• Three-pointers by David Brown III and Garrett Brennan on back-to-back possessions gave Loyola six-point leads in the second half, the second time coming on Brennan's triple with 8:59 on the clock.
• After that three, however, Boston University scored 10 in a row to go up 65-61 on a Nobili basket at 5:21.
• The Terriers' lead was three, 70-67, after a Kyrone Alexander basket with 31 seconds to play in regulation, but Jordan Stiemke scored with a putback 15 seconds later to draw Loyola within a point. He was fouled and made the free throw to tie the game at 70-70.
• Alexander, however, made a three for Boston University with 2.1 seconds left, and the Terriers had a 3-point lead.
• Garrett Brennan inbounded a pass to Faure just over midcourt, where he turned and launced a shot that banked in to send the game to overtime.
• In the extra period, Boston University took a four-point lead behind an Anthony Morales basket with 1:43 to play, but after a Greyhounds' timeout, Tyson Commander knocked down a three to make it a one-point margin.
• Loyola got a stop on the defensive end, and Stiemke drove to the basket and scored with 33 seconds left, giving Loyola a 79-78 lead.
• Boston University called a timeout, and with 11 seconds left Morales put up a reverse layup in traffic that rolled in. Stiemke's shot went off the mark at the other end, and Boston University drew a foul with 0.8 on the clock, hitting both free throws for the final margin.
• Stiemke finished with a team- and career-high 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers, to tie Alexander for game-high honors. 
• Faure added 16 points, Milos Ilic had 13, and Brown scored 12. Brennan and Faure both had seven rebounds, and Golden Dike dished out six assists for Loyola.

Stiemke Spark

• Jordan Stiemke drew his first starting assignment for Loyola on February 3 against Holy Cross and scored five points in 17 minutes of action. He then upped his playing time to 25 minutes on February 7 at American, converting a layup and free throw for the game-winning points while finishing with six points and six rebounds.
• He then saw 32 minutes of action against Colgate on February 10, scoring 12 points for career-highs in both categories. The freshman from Bel Air, Maryland, came up with another career high four days later at Lafayette, going for 18 points in 38 minutes of action.
• Stiemke had his best statistical game on February 25 at Boston University, scoring 23 points on 8 of 18 shooting and 5 of 10 from the floor.
• As a starter in seven games, Stiemke is shooting 43.3 percent (26 of 60) from the field, and he is 14 of 30 (70 percent) from behind the arc.

Perry Pushes Past 30

• Deon Perry had set a career-high of 30 points in a pair of road games this year, scoring that total at Army West Point, but he moved his best higher on February 17 at Lehigh when he scored 33.
• Perry became the first player in the Patriot League this year and the 33rd in NCAA Division I to have three games with 30 points or more in a game. Perry's games with 30 or more points are three of the 11 Loyola men's basketball players have posted in Patriot League contests since joining the conference in 2013-14.
• Perry is the third Loyola player to post 30 or more points three times in a season in the last decade, joining Andrew Kostecka (4 each in 2018-19 and 2019-20) and Santi Aldama (2020-21).

Conference Boards

• Loyola has been the best rebounding team, statistically speaking, in the Patriot League during conference play, posting a plus-3.6 rebounding margin that is more than a full rebound higher than Colgate second place plus-2.7.
• Three Loyola players – Golden Dike (6.2), Alonso Faure (5.9) and Milos Ilic (5.3) – are averaging more than five rebounds per game in League play.
• The Greyhounds have outrebounded their opponents in 12 of 16 Patriot League contests to date.

A Golden Career High

• Golden Dike logged a career-high 21 points on Valentine's Night at Lafayette, eclipsing his previous best of 18 which had stood for the previous 132 games he'd played.
• Dike scored 18 points on February 17, 2019, against Fairfield in his fourth career game, but he had not gotten past that mark since.

A Win Is A Win

• Loyola's victory at American on February 7 came with some interesting statistics based on the low scoring numbers.
• Loyola's winning total of 44 points is the lowest for a victorious team in NCAA Division I by four points this year. Three teams – Eastern Illinois (48-46 vs. Coppin State), Southeastern Louisiana (48-47 vs. Grambling) and Seattle (48-46 vs. California Baptist – have won with only 48 points in 2023-24.
• Loyola shot 29.4 percent from the field, the fifth-lowest winning mark in Division I this season and the lowest by a Patriot League team.
• The 44 points were the lowest total in a Loyola win since the Greyhounds beat Marist, 43-41, on February 23, 1984.

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 25 of 27 games  averaging 26.1 minutes, 7.6 points and 5.1 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 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.

Perry's Last 17

• Deon Perry has increased his scoring output over the last 17 games he's played – including 10 games of 20 or more and three games with 30-plus – to average of 20.5 over the stretch.
• The 2022-23 Patriot League All-Rookie guard has shot 37.6 percent from 3-point range during the 17 games, averaging 3.1 made threes per game.
• Prior to the last 17 games, Perry was 22 of 76 from 3-point range (28.9 percent) in the season's first 11 games.
• The 17 games have boosted his scoring average by almost four points to 17.4, and he now leads the Patriot League in scoring and free-throw percentage (91.0 percent)
• Perry has raised his career mark to 14.0 points.

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. 

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, and at Holy Cross, he became the fifth with 800 or more. At Lafayette on Valentine's Day, he grabbed 13 boards and moved past . Mark Rohde (1972-76) into fourth in school history with 856. Cam Gregory (2014-18) is third at Loyola with 871 rebounds.
• Dike has also risen the Patriot League's all-time charts and checks in ninth all-time with his 856 boards. Gregory's 871 are eighth.

Twenty Or More For Deon

• Deon Perry's 33-point effort at Lehigh marked the 17th time in his 61 collegiate games that he has scored 20 or more. Three-pointers have been the spark to Perry's 20-point games. He has shot 67 of 152 from 3-point range in those 16 games, good for 44.1 percent. In his other 41 games at Loyola, Perry is 80 of 230 (34.9 percent) from behind the arc.
• Loyola is 11-5 all-time when Perry scores 20 or more points.

On The 3-Point Charts

• Deon Perry has already made 149 3-pointers in his 60 career games at Loyola and are ninth in school history. Perry is currently 13th all-time with 394 attempts, and his 37.8 percent is 10th.

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 28 games, he leads the Patriot League in shooting percentage at .572 (95 of 166).
• He entered the season ranked second in school history in field-goal percentage at 55.9 percent, a mark is now at 56.1 after the Boston University game. 
• His four games with 14 or more points, through 28 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. Faure was two off his career-high with 16 points to go with 11 rebounds – for his third career double-double – at Holy Cross, and he is now averaging 7.5 points per game.
• The native of Alicante, Spain, shot a team-best 58.1 percent from the field last year. He has a career field-goal percentage of 53.3 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 46 games this season, Aldama is averaging 10.2 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.