Game Notes | TV: NBC Sports Chicago | Live Stats

CHICAGO (March 1, 2018) - Loyola enters the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Championship on a seven-game winning streak, matching its longest of the year and longest in the Porter Moser era. The Ramblers claimed their first outright regular season conference title since 1984-85 by rolling to a 15-3 Valley record, a program high mark for conference wins. The Ramblers' 25 regular-season victories are the program's most since the 1948-49 squad (26), which went 26-9 overall. At 25-5 overall, the Ramblers have recorded the 14th 20-win season in program history and the second in the last four years under head coach Porter Moser. Prior to his arrival for the 2011-12 campaign, Loyola had one 20-win season in 26 years.
 
Series Stuff vs. Evansville
Loyola and Evansville have met 46 times previously and the Purple Aces hold a 26-20 advantage in the all-time series, although the Ramblers have captured three of the last four meetings between the clubs. The Ramblers and Purple Aces have met twice before in conference tournament action (1982 and 1992), but both meetings came prior to Loyola joining the Missouri Valley Conference, when the schools were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. Evansville won both of those conference tournament meetings.
 
Loyola swept the regular-season series this year, winning 66-59 in Chicago thanks to 19 points from Marques Townes. When the teams met two weeks ago in Evansville, the Ramblers pulled out a 76-66 victory behind 22 points from Townes and 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Clayton Custer. Since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, the Ramblers are 4-6 against Evansville and seven of those 10 contests have been decided by seven or fewer points.
 
Scouting Evansville
Evansville comes in as the No. 8 seed after putting together a 17-14 overall record and a 7-11 mark in Valley play. The Purple Aces, who have been ravaged by injuries this winter, have dropped four of their last five games, but rolled past Southern Illinois, 75-44, last Saturday in the regular-season finale. The Purple Aces are the top three-point shooting team in The Valley, connecting on 41.9 percent (182-for-434) of their triple tries.
 
Ryan Taylor, a First Team All-MVC selection, leads Evansville and tops all Valley scorers with 22.1 points per game, while shooting 43.2 percent (67-for-155) from three-point territory. Point guard Dru Smith, who has missed nine games due to injury, ranks second on the club with 13.4 ppg and adds 3.4 rpg, 4.7 apg and 2.1 spg, and is draining 58.1 percent (93-for-160) of his field goal tries and 51 percent (25-for-49) of his treys.
 
Series Stuff vs. UNI
The Ramblers and Panthers would be meeting for the 18th time in a series that dates back to 1994. UNI owns a 10-7 edge in the all-time series, but Loyola has prevailed in five of the last six matchups between the programs. Loyola and UNI have met just once in Arch Madness action, with the Panthers earning a 63-49 victory in semifinal round play in 2015. Montel James led the Ramblers with 14 points in that game, while Milton Doyle pitched in 11 points and six assists.
 
This year, Loyola swept the season series, marking the second time in the last three years it has taken both contests from UNI. Loyola slipped by in Cedar Falls on January 7, winning 56-50, before coasting to a 70-47 victory at Gentile Arena three weeks later as Clayton Custer netted a team-high 21 points. Since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, the Ramblers are 6-5 against the Panthers and three of the last six games between the teams have been decided by six points or less.
 
Scouting UNI
UNI has emerged victorious in three of its last four contests and carries a modest two-game winning streak into Arch Madness. Four of the Panthers' last five contests have been decided by seven points or less. The Panthers rank first among Valley teams in scoring defense, yielding only 62.9 ppg, while Loyola ranks second in that category, at 63.4 ppg
 
Senior Bennett Koch, a Third Team All-MVC honoree, leads UNI with 12.7 ppg and ranks second on the team with 6.0 rpg, while MVC All-Freshman and All-Newcomer Team pick Tywhon Pickford averages 9.5 ppg and a team-best 8.0 rpg. If you take away the marksmanship of Wyatt Lohaus (.459) and Spencer Haldeman (.426), as a team, UNI is shooting only 29.8 percent from three-point territory this season.