ST. LOUIS (March 5, 2022) - For the third time in the last five years and the second season in a row, Loyola will play for the Missouri Valley Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when the Ramblers face Drake in the MVC Championship title game Sunday afternoon. This will be Loyola's eighth appearance in a conference tournament title game and the Ramblers are 3-4 the previous seven times they have reached a league title contest, although they have won the last two. The game is a rematch of last year's MVC Championship title bout, which was won by Loyola, 75-65.

Since joining The Valley for the 2013-14 season, the Ramblers are 12-6 (.667) all time at Arch Madness and claimed the championship in 2018 and 2021. With a win Sunday, Loyola would become the ninth team overall, and first since Bradley in 2019 and 2020, to capture consecutive MVC Championship crowns. 

With yesterday's victory over No. 1 seed Northern Iowa, Drew Valentine, the youngest coach in NCAA Division I basketball at 30 years of age, set the Loyola single-season record for wins by a first-year Rambler coach with 24.

Like last year, defense has fueled Loyola's run to the Arch Madness championship game. A season ago, the Ramblers allowed just 49.0 ppg in their first two games in St. Louis at the MVC Championship and this year the defense has been even better, yielding only 46.5 ppg through the first pair of postseason outings.

Loyola – Drake – The Series

Loyola and Drake are meeting for the 39th time in a series that opened up in 1934. The Ramblers possess a 22-16 edge in the series, but have stumbled in three of the last four meetings, although they have captured eight of the last 12 matchups.

This is just the second time the Ramblers and Bulldogs are pairing up in MVC Championship action, with the lone other meeting in postseason play coming in the 2021 Arch Madness title game. In that outing, Braden Norris and Cameron Krutwig scored 20 points apiece and Loyola shot 59.1 percent from the field and hit 10 of 17 three-point attempts (.588) on the way to its second MVC Championship crown in four years. 

Drake swept the regular-season series this year and on February 19, the Bulldogs earned an 83-76 victory in Chicago despite 27 points from Lucas Williamson.

Scouting Drake

Since suffering through a three-game losing skid in early February, Drake has won seven straight contests heading into Sunday's MVC Championship title showdown. The Bulldogs earned their spot in the championship game of Arch Madness thanks to a 79-78 overtime win versus Missouri State last night.

Current Loyola video coordinator C.J. Rivers, who hails from Cahokia, Ill., which is just across the river from St. Louis, played at Drake from 2014 to 2018, averaging 4.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 2.1 apg in 111 career appearances for the Bulldogs.

Tucker DeVries, the MVC Freshman of the Year, paces the Bulldogs with 13.9 ppg and adds 4.5 rpg, 2.0 apg and 1.0 spg. Second Team All-MVC forward Garrett Sturtz contributes 11.0 ppg and team bests of 7.3 rpg and 1.4 spg, while point guard Roman Penn pitches in 11.0 ppg and 3.9 apg.

Up Next

Loyola will wait to learn its postseason fate next Sunday (March 13).