ST. LOUIS (March 6, 2021) - Loyola, which has won 16 of its last 17 games, will play for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship for the second time in four years when it meets No. 2 seed Drake Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs were one of the two teams to deal the Ramblers a loss in league play this season. This is Loyola's seventh appearance in a conference tournament title game in program history and second as a member of the MVC (2018). The Ramblers are 2-4 all-time in conference tournament title contests.
 
Loyola is seeking its seventh NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2018, when it made a magical run to the Final Four. A victory over Drake Sunday in the MVC Championship would give the Ramblers their second NCAA appearance in the last 31 years. Loyola is 13-5 (.722) in NCAA Tournament action. 
 
Sunday's game marks only the third time in Arch Madness history that two former Valley players are facing off against one another as coaches and the first since 2018 when Porter Moser's Loyola squad faced Illinois State, coached by Dan Muller.
 
 
Loyola – Drake – The Series
Loyola and Drake are matching up for the 36th time in a series that dates back to 1934. The Ramblers hold a 21-14 advantage in the all-time series and have captured seven of the last nine meetings between the teams although they have split the last four encounters. 

This is the first time the Ramblers and Bulldogs will be squaring o in MVC Championship action. Since Loyola joined The Valley for the 2013-14 campaign, it is 11-5 against Drake.

When these teams faced o last month in Des Moines, Loyola coasted to an 81-54 victory in the opener of a two-game series before letting a 10-point, second-half lead slip away in a 51-50 setback in overtime. 
In that 51-50 Drake victory on February 14, Tremell Murphy scored 17 points to lead the Bulldogs, who won despite being limited to 33.3 percent (19-for-57) shooting from the field and an even more anemic 15.8 percent (3-for-19) from beyond the arc. Loyola got 11 points and 14 rebounds from Cameron Krutwig, as well as 11 points from Aher Uguak, but committed 19 turnovers and shot only 21.1 percent (4-for-19) from three- point land. 
 
Scouting Drake 
Drake has won six of its last seven outings, although four of those victories have come by single digits, including two by a single basket. Since winning their first 18 games of the year, the Bulldogs are 7-3.

The Bulldogs, who lead the MVC in scoring offense (77.9), are 2-0 in neutral site games this season.

Drake, which is currently without its top two players - ShanQuan Hemphill (14.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Roman Penn (11.2 ppg, 5.5 apg) - is led by sophomore guard Joseph Yesufu, a native of Bolingbrook, Ill., who hit the game-winning shot against Missouri State in Saturday's semifinal game, and is contributing 12.1 ppg.
 
Up Next
Loyola will wait to find out its NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Sunday (March 14).