CHICAGO (January 23, 2022) - Loyola continues a busy stretch in which it will play four games in nine days when it hosts the first of back-to-back games versus Southern Illinois on Tuesday night. The Ramblers have won 34 of their last 35 games overall at Gentile Arena and 36 of their last 37 contests in Missouri Valley Conference action in Rogers Park.

The Ramblers have won 20 straight games versus teams from the state of Illinois since a 68-63 loss at Southern Illinois on January 29, 2020. Included in that stretch are nine consecutive wins versus Valley foes from the Land of Lincoln.

Tuesday's game is a matchup of former Loyola assistant coaches from the Ramblers' NCAA Final Four team in 2018, who are now running their own programs. Drew Valentine is in his first season as head coach at Loyola and Bryan Mullins is in his third year at his alma mater, Southern Illinois. Both coaches served under current University of Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser, at Loyola. At 30 years of age, Valentine is the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I basketball, while Mullins (34 years old) is the fourth-youngest coach in the country.

Last week, the Ramblers moved into both the Associated Press (#22) and Coaches (#24) Top 25 polls for the first time this season. That marked just the second time in program history, and first since the 1962-63 and 1963-64 campaigns, that Loyola has been ranked in the AP Poll in back-to-back seasons.

Loyola – Southern Illinois – The Series

Loyola and Southern Illinois are meeting for the 21st time in a series that traces its roots back to 1981. The Ramblers have claimed seven of the last nine matchups between the teams, including each of the last three.

Loyola has fared well against the Salukis in Chicago, winning seven of the previous 10 encounters there, and the Ramblers have reeled off five straight wins at Gentile Arena since a 67-61 setback on February 4, 2017.

Last season, Loyola swept the regular-season series, winning both contests at Gentile Arena. When the clubs last locked horns, the Ramblers rolled to a 73-49 victory in the MVC Championship quarterfinals on March 5, 2021, behind a team-high 13 points off the bench from center Jacob Hutson.

Scouting Southern Illinois

Southern Illinois has had some tough luck lately, dropping four of its last five contests, all by eight or fewer points, including a pair of one-point heartbreakers. In MVC action this season, four of the Salukis' seven games have been decided by three or fewer points and all have been settled by eight or fewer points.

The Salukis are 2-5 in true road games in 2021-22 and have gone down in four of their last five contests on enemy courts.

Junior forward Marcus Domask, the 2020 MVC Freshman and Newcomer of the Year, leads SIU with 15.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 4.1 apg this season and he is tallying 18.8 ppg over the last six contests. Guard Lance Jones, an Evanston native, adds 13.8 ppg.

Southern Illinois' coaching staff also features a pair of former Loyola directors of basketball operations - Jevon Mamon (2017-19) and Pat Monaghan (2010-11).

Up Next

The Rambler and Salukis square off again Thursday (Jan. 27) in Carbondale in a rescheduled game that was originally slated for January 2 but was postponed due to COVID-19 health and safety concerns within the Southern Illinois program.