CHICAGO (January 14, 2021) – Loyola puts a 15-game win streak at Gentile Arena on the line Saturday when it hosts Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Northern Iowa in the opener of a two-game, weekend series. The Ramblers have won 19 of their last 20 games overall in Rogers Park and since the start of the 2017-18 season are 27-2 (.931) at home in Valley play. A win Saturday would give Loyola a 4-1 start to MVC action for a third straight season.
 
The Ramblers have won 13 straight home games in Valley play since a 65-61 setback versus Missouri State on February 17, 2019. 
 
Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Loyola owns the most wins (81) of any of the 13 NCAA Division I teams in the state of Illinois. Bradley ranks second with 70 wins, followed by Southern Illinois (60), UIC (59) and Illinois (56) to round out the top five teams.
 
With his fifth rebound at Indiana State Monday night, senior center Cameron Krutwig became just the fourth player in MVC history with 1,500 career points, 800 career rebounds and 300 career assists. The other players in Valley history to accomplish the feat are Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati), Larry Bird (Indiana State) and Hersey Hawkins (Bradley). Only 12 others in the NCAA have achieved that statistical trifecta in the past 10 years.
 
 
Loyola – Northern Iowa – The Series
Saturday's game is the 23^rdmeeting between Loyola and Northern Iowa and the teams have split the first 22 matchups, although the Ramblers have won nine of the last 11 encounters, including six of the last seven. UNI's two wins in that 11-game stretch have both come in overtime in Cedar Falls.
 
Nail-biters are the norm in this series and over the last eight meetings, six of those games have been decided by six points or less, three have been decided by one possession, and three have gone to overtime.
 
Loyola is 7-3 all time against UNI when playing in Chicago and has won each of the last five versus the Panthers at Gentile Arena since a 58-39 setback there on February 18, 2015.
 
Both games between the Ramblers and Panthers went into overtime last season, with the home team prevailing each time. When the teams last faced off, on February 15, 2020, at Gentile Arena, Keith Clemons scored 25 points and Cameron Krutwig added 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Ramblers to an 82-73 victory. AJ Green tied the game at the end of regulation with a long three-pointer, but Loyola out-scored UNI, 11-2 in the extra session to earn the win.
 
Scouting Northern Iowa
The preseason league favorite, Northern Iowa not only dropped five of its first six games of 2020-21, but also lost junior guard AJ Green, the reigning MVC Player of the Year, who was averaging 22.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, to a season-ending hip injury.
 
UNI is winless in three true road games and in six contests away from the McLeod Center this season.
 
Senior guard Trae Berhow has stepped up in Green's absence, contributing 14.1 ppg and 5.8 rpg, while redshirt junior forward Austin Phyfe is adding 12.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Guard Bowen Born is one of the top freshmen in The Valley and is totaling 11.2 ppg.
 
Up Next
Loyola makes a midweek trip to Valparaiso for a January 20 showdown that begins at 6 p.m. CT.