PARADISE ISLAND BAHAMAS (November 26, 2021) - Loyola will try to salvage a game from its trip to the Bahamas for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis when it meets Arizona State in the seventh-place game Friday night. The Ramblers, who have dropped their first two outings at the tournament, are looking to avoid their first losing skid of three games or more since stumbling in four straight contests, January 31 through February 12, 2017. Dating back to last season, the Ramblers have won 23 of their last 27 contests (.852).

The last time the Ramblers lost three consecutive nonconference contests came all the way back in the 2011-12 campaign when it fell to Milwaukee, Green Bay and DePaul, December 1 through 7.

Loyola has won five of its last eight games played at neutral sites and has also captured two of its last five meetings versus teams from Power 5 conferences. Since the start of the 2016-17 campaign, the Ramblers have delivered eight wins against Power 5 opponents, two of which were ranked in the top five in the nation at the time - No. 5 Florida (2017-18) and No. 2 Illinois (2020-21). 

First-year head coach Drew Valentine is the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball at 30 years of age. He is a year and a half younger than the next youngest head coach in the country, Austin Claunch of Nicholls State.

Loyola – Arizona State – The Series

Loyola and Arizona State are meeting for the third time, but the first since nearly 50 years ago, on December 9, 1972. The Sun Devils have captured each of the previous two matchups between the teams.

When the Ramblers and Sun Devils last met, Arizona State slipped by with an 85-82 victory in Chicago.

Loyola is 12-19 (.387) all time versus current members of the Pac-12 Conference and in its last meeting with a team from that league, fell to Oregon State, 65-58, in the NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal Round last March.

Scouting Arizona State

Arizona State has lost of each of its last three games and is coming off a 92-84 setback versus Syracuse last night in the consolation round of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.

Two of the Sun Devils' losses - to UC Riverside (66-65) and San Diego State (65-63) - have come by two or fewer points.

As a team, Arizona State is shooting just 42 percent (157-for-374) from the field and 33.1 percent (52-for-157) from three-point range and is led by forward Kimani Lawrence, who posts 13.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Illinois State transfer DJ Horne adds 12.0 ppg.

Arizona State assistant coach Jermaine Kimbrough is in his first season on Bobby Hurley's staff after spending the last two campaigns as an assistant coach at Loyola, where he helped lead the Ramblers to 47 total victories, a NCAA Sweet 16 appearance (2021) and Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles (2021).

Up Next

Loyola opens Missouri Valley Conference play December 1 when it hosts Indiana State.