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CHICAGO (January 11, 2018) - Riding a two-game winning streak, with road victories over two teams predicted to finish in the top four in the Missouri Valley Conference, Loyola returns home to host Bradley Saturday afternoon. The Ramblers have won nine of their last 10 games at Gentile Arena. Through games of January 10, Loyola and Bradley were the only two NCAA Division I programs from the state of Illinois with 13 or more victories. Since 1966-67, Loyola has started a season with a 13-4 record four times (1979-80, 1983-84, 2014-15, 2017-18). With a win over Bradley on Saturday, the Ramblers would have their best record through 18 games since the 1965-66 squad won 16 of its first 18 contests en route to a 22-3 season that ended with a NCAA Tournament berth.
 
Series Stuff
Loyola and Bradley are meeting for the 58th time in a series that dates back to 1928. Although the Ramblers trail the all-time series, 33-24, they have captured each of the last four, and seven of the last eight, meetings between the teams. When the teams last met, on January 25, 2017, at Gentile Arena, Loyola's 13-2 run to open the second half gave it control of the game en route to a 70-50 victory. Donte Ingram scored a team-high 24 points to pace the Ramblers, who forced 21 Braves turnovers.
 
Loyola is 12-12 all-time against Bradley on its home floor and has won two of the last three at Gentile Arena. In its last two games against Bradley, Loyola has shot 54.3 percent (57-for-105) from the field and 50 percent (21-for-42) from three-point range. Loyola is 7-3 against Bradley since joining the MVC for the 2013-14 campaign.
 
Scouting Bradley
Bradley has won three of its last four contests after losing consecutive games for the first time this season. The Braves have been a different team on the road, going 9-0 at Carver Arena, but just 2-4 in true road contests this season. Bradley has dropped three straight road contests and has prevailed in just two of its last 17 MVC road games.
 
Sophomore guard Darrell Brown leads the Braves with 13.2 points and 3.9 assists per game, while Donte Thomas adds 10.0 ppg and 6.3 rebounds per contest. Bradley sits first in The Valley in field goal percentage defense (.383), while Loyola enters Saturday's game ranked first in the conference in field goal percentage (.500).
 
Donte Thomas scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Bradley shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half, to earn a 68-62 victory over Southern Illinois on January 9 in Peoria.
 
Up Next
Loyola wraps up a brief two-game homestand when Southern Illinois comes to town on January 17.