ST. LOUIS (March 5, 2021) - Loyola, which rolled to a 73-49 victory over Southern Illinois Friday, is making its third appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship semifinal round in the last four seasons and will take on Indiana State, which dealt the Ramblers one of their two league defeats this year. All time, Loyola is 6-13 when playing in conference tournament semifinal games and is 1-2 in Arch Madness semifinal round action. Over the last four seasons, the Ramblers are 5-2 in MVC Championship play.

How About Hutty?

Freshman center Jacob Hutson came off the bench Friday to pour in a team-high 13 points and he has snared three rebounds and dished out an assist in Loyola's 73-49 victory over Southern Illinois in the MVC quarterfinal round.

The 6-foot-10 Minnesota native made a big splash in his collegiate debut, scoring 15 points and pitching in two rebounds and a pair of assists in a victory over Saint Francis (Ill.) on December 22.

He has begun to find some meaningful minutes in the Ramblers' last three contests, averaging 6.3 ppg and 1.3 rpg, while connecting on 80 percent (8-for-10) of his field goal attempts.

Defending The Arch

Dating back to 2018, in its last five wins at Arch Madness, Loyola's defense has been suffocating, allowing a mere 51.2 points per game. The Ramblers have not allowed an opponent to score more than 54 points in those five wins. In those five victories, Loyola has kept opponents in check, limiting them to 37.1 percent (99-for-267) shooting from the field and 24.4 percent (22-for-90) from beyond the arc.

Taking it even further, in its seven appearances at the MVC Championship dating back to 2018, Loyola has surrendered 54.7 ppg and held opponents to 37.6 percent (148-for-394) accuracy from the field and 28.6 percent (40-for-140) from three-point land.

The 49 points Loyola allowed yesterday match the fewest it has yielded at Arch Madness since joining the league for the 2013-14 campaign. In the 2018 MVC Championship title game, the Ramblers held Illinois State to 49 points in a 65-49 decision that gave Loyola its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1985.

Loyola – Indiana State – The Series

Saturday's game will be the 34th meeting between Loyola and Indiana State in a series that dates back to 1924. The Sycamores possess a slim 17-16 edge in the all-time series, but the Ramblers have claimed five of the last seven, and eight of the last 11, matchups between the teams.

Loyola and Indiana State are facing off in MVC Championship action for the third time overall and the first since March 6, 2015. The teams split the previous two encounters in Arch Madness, with the Sycamores taking a 75-62 victory in quarterfinal action on March 7, 2014. 

However, the following March (March 6, 2015), the Ramblers rolled to an 81-53 decision in the quarterfinal round behind 16 points from Christian Thomas and 15 from Ben Richardson. Current Loyola director of basketball operations London Dokubo had one point in four minutes off the bench in that contest.

The teams split the regular-season series in Terre Haute in January, with Loyola picking up a 58-48 victory in the finale after suffering a 76-71 setback in the opener on January 10. In that January 11 win, Cameron Krutwig produced 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Ramblers.

Scouting Indiana State

Indiana State is 11-2 in its last 13 outings since that aforementioned loss to Loyola on January 11, and is coming off a 53-43 win versus No. 5 seed Evansville Friday afternoon.  

When playing outside of Terre Haute this season, the Sycamores are 6-6 but have won three of their last four contests.

First Team All-MVC senior guard Tyreke Key leads Indiana State with 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Sophomore forward Jake LaRavia contributes 12.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg and guard Cooper Neese adds 9.8 ppg, while shooting a team-best 39.4 percent (43-for-109) from beyond the arc.

Up Next

A win over Indiana State would send Loyola to the MVC Championship title game where it would face either Drake or Missouri State on Sunday (March 7) at 1 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on CBS.