CHICAGO (January 8, 2021) – Loyola shoots for its fifth straight victory, which would be the program's longest streak since winning five in a row from November 27 through December 18, 2019, when it opens a two-game series at Missouri Valley Conference co-leader Drake Sunday evening. The Ramblers enter this weekend having won two of their last three road games in league play. A win Sunday would give the Ramblers their best record through 10 games since 2017-18 when they opened with a 9-1 mark in a season that ended with a trip to the NCAA Final Four. Sunday's game will be televised live on ESPN2, while Monday's game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network
The Ramblers have never started Valley play with a 3-0 ledger and have opened conference play, regardless of league affiliation, with three straight wins, just four times in program history, the last coming in 2001-02 when they began Horizon League action at 6-0. Loyola has started 3-0 in league play just one time in the last 33 seasons.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Loyola is 15-12 away from home in Missouri Valley games, the most road wins of any team in the league during that stretch.
Loyola – Drake – The Series
Loyola and Drake are matching up for the 34th time in a series that started in 1934. The Ramblers possess a 20-13 edge in the all-time series and have won six of the last seven meetings between the teams.
When playing in Des Moines, the Ramblers are 7-9 versus the Bulldogs and have claimed two of the last three contests at the Knapp Center.
Last season, the clubs split the regular-season series with the home team claiming each contest.
Tate Hall scored a team-high 15 points but Loyola was edged, 65-62, when the Ramblers and Bulldogs last met in Des Moines on January 7, 2020.
Scouting Drake
Picked seventh in the 2020-21 MVC Preseason Poll, Drake is off to the best start in program history, winning each of its first 13 contests. Led by second-year head coach Darian DeVries, the Bulldogs are 8-0 at home this season and have won 11 of their last 12 games at the Knapp Center.
This series will feature the top two shooting teams in the MVC, who also are two of the most accurate field goal percentage clubs in the nation. Drake is converting 53.5 percent (426-for-797) of its shots from the floor this year.
Seven Bulldogs are contributing at least 6.0 points per contest, led by senior forward ShanQuan Hemphill, a transfer from Green Bay, who is putting up 14.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Guard Roman Penn, a redshirt junior, adds 12.1 ppg and 5.8 apg and is shooting 59.2 percent (61-for-103) from the field.
Up Next
Loyola returns to Gentile Arena to host preseason MVC favorite Northern Iowa, January 16 and 17.
