CHICAGO (February 16, 2021) - Loyola puts a 19-game home court winning streak, which is tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation, on the line Wednesday night when it welcomes Valparaiso to Gentile Arena. The Ramblers have also won 17 consecutive Missouri Valley Conference home games since a 65-61 setback versus Missouri State two years ago to the day (Feb. 17, 2019). Loyola's NCAA NET ranking was 10 through games of February 15.
 
For the second straight week, the Ramblers are ranked in both polls, checking in at No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 23 in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll. Loyola had not been ranked in a poll during the regular season since 1985.
 
With Saturday's win at Drake, Cameron Krutwig and Lucas Williamson tied Bruno Skokna (91 wins) as the winningest players in Loyola men's basketball history. 
 
At 18-4 overall, Loyola is off to its best start through 22 contests since 2017-18 (18-4). The Ramblers need two more Valley wins to equal the program record for conference victories in a season (15), regardless of league affiliation, set by the 2017-18 club (15-3).
 
Over the last three outings at Gentile Arena, Loyola is posting 75.0 points per game and has knocked down shots at a scalding 58.6 percent (82-for-140) clip from the field and 42.9 percent (18-for-42) rate from behind the three-point arc.
 
Wednesday's game will be televised live on NBC Sports Chicago +, FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Indiana Plus and ESPN+. The game will be blacked out on ESPN+ in the states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska but the blackout will be lifted in Indiana due to limited distributed of FOX Sports Indiana Plus. 
 
Loyola – Valparaiso – The Series
Wednesday's game will be the 59th meeting between these longtime foes and Loyola owns a 42-16 edge in the all-time series and has claimed eight of the last nine meetings, all of which have come since Valpo joined the Missouri Valley.
 
Loyola is 20-8 versus Valpo when playing on its home floor and has won three straight at Gentile Arena since an 85-76 setback on February 19, 2013 when both teams were members of the Horizon League.
 
When the teams met in Valparaiso last month, the Ramblers coasted to a 76-39 victory behind 15 points from Cameron Krutwig. Loyola shot 53.6 percent from the field and held Valpo to 30.6 accuracy en route to the win. Last season at Gentile Arena, Loyola pulled out a 70-68 victory thanks to 20 points from Krutwig. 
 
Scouting Valparaiso
Since suffering a 76-39 loss to Loyola on January 20, Valparaiso is 5-5 and owns a win over Drake (74-57) in that stretch. However, since a three-game winning streak that immediately followed the loss to the Ramblers, Valpo is 2-5.
 
Valpo is 3-9 in true road games in 2020-21, but has split six Valley contests away from home, although it has faltered in three of its last four on the road.
 
A pair of sophomores provide a big chunk of Valpo's offensive production, with forwards Ben Krikke (12.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and Donovan Clay (10.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg) scoring in double figures for the Brown and Gold. Valpo has struggled shooting the basketball from three-point range, converting only 29.8 percent of its shots from beyond the arc.
 
Up Next
Loyola wraps up the 2020-21 regular season next weekend when it hosts a two-game series versus Southern Illinois, February 26 and 27.