CHICAGO (March 4, 2020) - Second-seeded Loyola opens play at the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference Championship Friday night with a quarterfinal-round game when it faces the winner of the No. 7 Valparaiso versus No. 10 Evansville opening-round showdown. The Ramblers enter Arch Madness having won six of their last seven outings and are 18-6 in their last 24 games.

After going 27-45 (.375) in league play in its first four seasons as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Loyola has reversed its fortunes and gone 40-14 (.741) over the last three years, winning a pair of regular-season crowns (2018, 2019) and finishing second once (2020).

Loyola has finished in second place or better in The Valley race in three consecutive seasons, marking the first time the Ramblers have placed second or better in league play three years in a row since doing so six straight times from 1979-80 through 1984-85.

For the first time in over 70 years, Loyola has won 18 or more games in four consecutive seasons. The last time the Ramblers had accomplished the feat was at the beginning of the post-World-War-II era, from the 1945-46 through 1948-49 seasons.

This marks only the second time in program history that Loyola has won 10 or more conference contests in three consecutive years. The only other time that occurred was the 1982-83 through 1984-85 seasons, when the Ramblers were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, and won 12, 10 and 13 league games, respectively.

Loyola – Valparaiso – The Series

Loyola and Valparaiso would be meeting for the 57th time in a series that began nearly a century ago, in 1922. The Ramblers have taken eight of the last nine meetings between the teams, including each of the last seven, and own a 41-15 advantage in the all-time series. Since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, Loyola is 7-0 versus Valparaiso.

Last season, the teams met for the first time ever in conference tournament play, with the Ramblers earning a 67-54 victory in MVC Championship quarterfinal action. Loyola led by as many as 27 points in the second half in that contest and shot a blistering 64 percent (16-for-25) from the field in the opening period to jump out to a 40-18 halftime lead. Cameron Krutwig scored a game-high 18 points to pace the Ramblers, who also received 15 points from Marques Townes.

Loyola swept the regular-season series this year, winning the two contests by a grand total of five points. When the teams matched up February 9 in Chicago, the Ramblers nearly let a 14-point lead slip away in the final eight minutes but held on for a 70-68 decision behind 20 points from Cameron Krutwig and 15 from Marquise Kennedy. Loyola shot 58.7 percent (27-for-46) from the field in that contest. 

Scouting Valparaiso

Valparaiso has won four of its last six games heading into Thursday night's opening-round matchup with Evansville. Two of the Crusaders' last three setbacks have come by two points or less. Do-everything sophomore guard Javon Freeman-Liberty, a First Team All-MVC pick, has missed the last two contests due to illness, but is leading the team in nearly every statistical category with 19.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.2 steals per contest. Ryan Fazekas, who has missed 17 games due to injuries, pitches in 11.3 ppg and is shooting 51.4 percent (38-for-74) from three-point range.

Heading into Thursday's meeting with No. 10 seed Evansville, Valpo is 1-2 all-time at Arch Madness, winning last year's opening-round contest versus Indiana State, 77-55. The Crusaders are 1-2 on neutral floors this season, with the lone victory being a 78-74 decision against Grand Canyon at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands in November.

Loyola's Lucas Williamson and Valpo's Javon Freeman-Liberty were teammates at Whitney Young High School in Chicago and helped lead the Dolphins to the IHSA Class 4A state title in 2017 at Carver Arena in Peoria. Williamson accounted for a team-high 19 points in that championship game win over perennial power Simeon.

Loyola – Evansville – The Series

The Ramblers and Purple Aces would be meeting for the 52nd time in a series that Evansville leads, 28-23. However, Loyola has prevailed in six of the last eight meetings, including each of the last three. Since the Loyola joined the Missouri Valley Conference, it has split its 14 previous encounters with Evansville and this would be the first-ever matchup between the programs at Arch Madness.

Although they have never met in MVC Championship play, the Ramblers and Aces have matched up four previous times in conference tournament action, with each team winning twice. The last time the programs squared off in a league tournament setting, in the 1992 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal round in Cincinnati, Evansville advanced with to a 65-49 victory.

Loyola swept the season series this year and claimed a 73-66 victory on February 12 at Ford Center in Evansville when the teams last met. The Ramblers sprinted out to a 41-19 lead in that game, then had to rally for the victory. Lucas Williamson scored a team-best 20 points to key the victory for Loyola.

Scouting Evansville

Evansville has dropped 18 straight contests since a 78-76 overtime win over Murray State on December 21. The Aces are 1-2 in neutral-site contests this season.

Forward DeAndre Williams, who has been sidelined for 13 games this season due to a back injury, leads Evansville with 15.2 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Senior guard K.J. Riley adds 12.7 ppg and has gone to the free throw stripe 189 times this year.

Tournament Tidbits

Loyola is 7-5 all time at Arch Madness and has won at least one game at the MVC Championship in each of its previous six seasons in the league, with the exception of the 2016-17 campaign. In program history, the Ramblers are 32-39 (.451) in conference tournament contests.

However, the only time the Ramblers have won more than one games in St. Louis was 2018, when they rolled to their first conference tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance since 1985 when they were a member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. 

Loyola's Porter Moser is one of only two individuals - Chris Lowery being the other - to have won the MVC Championship as both a player and a head coach. Moser guided the Ramblers to the 2018 MVC Championship crown and won the tournament title as a player at Creighton in 1989 as the Bluejays edged Southern Illinois, 79-77, in Wichita.

This is the first time Loyola will be the No. 2 seed at the MVC Championship. All told, the Ramblers are 3-3 in program history when seeded second. Loyola is the No. 2 seed at a conference tournament for the first time since the 1986-87 season when it belonged to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. During their days as a MCC member, the Ramblers were the No. 2 seed in 1981, 1984 and 1987.

Loyola has won four of its last five games at Arch Madness, including each of its last two quarterfinal-round contests.

The No. 2 seed has won the Arch Madness title a grand total of 16 times, the last coming in 2017 when Wichita State claimed the title. A No. 2 seed has advanced to the MVC Championship semifinal round in every season since Creighton was stunned by seventh-seeded Bradley, 76-68, in the quarterfinals in 1998.

Moser is also in select company as one of only five individuals in Missouri Valley Conference history to have won a regular-season league title as both a player and as a head coach.

Up Next

With a victory Friday night, the Ramblers would advance to the MVC Championship semifinal round on Saturday, March 7 at 5 p.m., Loyola would be facing the winner of the No. 3 seed Indiana State versus No. 6 seed Missouri State contest.