Game Notes | Live Stats | TV: CBS Sports Network

CHICAGO (March 2, 2018) - Loyola comes into Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference Championship semifinal riding an eight-game winning streak, its longest of the year and longest in the Porter Moser era. This year, Ramblers claimed their first outright regular season conference title since 1984-85 by rolling to a 15-3 Valley record, a program standard for conference wins.  The Ramblers' 25 regular-season victories were the program's most since the 1948-49 squad (26), which went 26-9 overall. At 26-5 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
Loyola and Bradley will be meeting for the 60th time in a series that traces its roots back to 1928. The Braves own a 34-25 advantage in the all-time series, but the Ramblers have won eight of the last 10, and five of the last six, meetings between the teams. Loyola and Bradley split the regular-season series this year, with the home team winning each contest. This is the third Arch Madness meeting between the in-state rivals since Loyola joined the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2013-14 season. The Ramblers have won each of the previous two match-ups, earning a 74-72 decision in the first round in 2014, as Milton Doyle a three-pointer at the buzzer, one of the most memorable shots in MVC Championship history, then collecting a 74-66 victory in the opening round in 2016.
 
When the teams last met, Bradley held off a furious rally to earn a 69-67 win in Peoria on January 31, which was the last time Loyola suffered a loss. Clayton Custer poured in 23 points to lead the Ramblers, who trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half. Elijah Child netted 18 points and hauled in eight boards to pace the Braves. On January 13 in Chicago, Loyola raced out to an early lead and never looked back en route to an 81-65 victory, thanks to 21 points and 13 rebounds from Cameron Krutwig. The Ramblers shot 57.7 percent (30-for-52) from the field, including 71.4 percent (25-for-35) from inside the arc. Since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, the Ramblers are 8-4 against Bradley.
 
Scouting Bradley
Bradley advanced to the semifinal round thanks to Donte Thomas' put-back with 1.2 seconds remaining that gave the Braves a 63-61 victory over Drake. The Braves are making their first appearance the the MVC Championship semifinals since 2010. Despite yesterday's victory, Bradley is just 3-5 in its last eight outings since that victory over Loyola on January 31.
 
Sophomore guard Darrell Brown, a Third Team All-MVC selection, leads the Braves with 13.6 points and 4.4 assists per game, and is coming off of a 24-point performance in yesterday's quarterfinal round victory over Drake. In addition to Brown, head coach Brian Wardle gets production from senior forward Donte Thomas, who is putting up 11.7 ppg and a team-best 7.3 rpg and recorded 13 points and 14 boards against Drake yesterday. In two games against the Ramblers this season, the Second Team All-MVC honoree has contributed 11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 2.5 bpg.