NASSAU, Bahamas (November 22, 2021) - Loyola plays its first game away from Gentile Arena this season when it opens the 2021 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday versus Michigan State. The Ramblers have won their four games this season by an average of 30.5 points and are looking to win their first MTE title since capturing the championship at the Savannah Invitational in 2017-18.

This marks just the fourth time since the turn of the century that the Ramblers have started a season with four consecutive wins. Loyola also opened with a 4-0 record in 2005-06, 2010-11 and 2020-21.

Loyola's 91.0 points per game scoring average ranked 10th in the nation through games of November 20. Should they maintain that pace for the entire season, the Ramblers would post the fourth-best, points-per-game average in program history.

First-year Loyola head coach Drew Valentine was a graduate assistant coach on Tom Izzo's staff at Michigan State in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and helped the Spartans reach the NCAA Final Four in 2015. His brother, Denzel, was an All-America guard at MSU and currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Loyola assistant coach Sean Dwyer was a men's basketball manager during his time as an undergraduate student at Michigan State. 

The Ramblers are 38-87 (.304) all time versus Big Ten Conference foes, but took down No. 2 Illinois, 71-58, in the NCAA Tournament Second Round last March.

Loyola – Michigan State – The Series

Wednesday's game will be the 13th meeting between the Ramblers and the Spartans and Michigan State has had the upper hand in the series, winning 10 of the previous 12 matchups.

This is the first time the teams will be playing on a neutral floor and Michigan State has captured the last five meetings between the teams since a 46-44 Loyola victory on January 2, 1939.

When the teams last met, on November 21, 2014 at Breslin Center, Milton Doyle had a team-high 13 points, but it wasn't enough as Loyola fell, 82-57.

Scouting Michigan State

After opening the year with an 87-74 loss to Kansas, Michigan State has bounced back to win each of its last three contests, by an average of 29.7 points, heading into the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.

Head coach Tom Izzo's club most recently dismantled Western Michigan, 83-59, last Saturday in East Lansing, Mich., behind 19 points and 12 rebounds from Marcus Bingham Jr.

Known for its physical approach to the game and gritty defensive efforts, Michigan State is allowing just 61.0 points per game this season and opponents are shooting a paltry 35.2 percent (88-for-250) from the field against the Spartans.

Senior forward Gabe Brown leads the Spartans with 14.0 points per game, while Bingham Jr. pitches in 12.8 ppg and 8.3 rpg. Freshman guard Max Christie, who starred at suburban Rolling Meadows High School in Rolling Meadows, Ill., is tallying 11.5 ppg and 3.8 rpg.

Up Next

Loyola will face either Connecticut or Auburn Thursday (Nov. 26) in the second game of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.