CHICAGO - Loyola Chicago and DePaul face off in exhibition play Saturday at Wintrust arena. Tip-off between the Ramblers and Blue Demons is set for 6 pm. This marks the first meeting between the teams since the 2022-23 season. The Ramblers have won two of the last three regular season battles.

The game can be listened to on Rambler Sports Network with Scott Sudikoff (PXP) and Christian Thomas (Analyst).

QUICK HITS
• Loyola will play in two exhibition games this season. The first at DePaul before returning to Gentile Arena on Oct. 28 to take on St. Francis (Ill.) at 7 pm.
• The regular season is set to tip-off on Nov. 3 vs. Cleveland State at home at 7 pm.
• The Ramblers were tabbed fifth in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll and received two first-place votes. VCU was tabbed the preseason favorite, racking up 11 votes and 342 points. Saint Louis trailed in second with 11 votes, while Dayton and George Washington placed third and fourth respectively. Dayton had the remaining three first-place votes.
• Junior center Miles Rubin was tabbed to the Preseason First Team and All-Defensive Team. The preseason accolades come after two consecutive All-Defensive nods for Rubin. He started all 37 games last season, averaging 9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game. His 71.4 field goal percentage set a single-season program record.
• Rubin enters his junior season as one of the nation's top shot blockers. He finished his sophomore campaign ranked 12th in the country with an 11.4 shot blocking percentage. Rubin also set Loyola's single-season block record back-to-back seasons.
• Also returning for the Ramblers is starting guard Kymany Houinsou. He made 28 appearances for Loyola, averaging 5.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.7 spg, and 0.2 bpg. He shot nearly 53 percent from the field and posted four double-figure scoring performances.
• Justin Moore is back from a season-ending knee injury. He made nine starts, averaging 7.7 ppg on 41.9 percent from the field. He was second in the A-10 at the time of injury with 5.3 assists per game.
• Loyola added eight newcomers to this year's roster, including five transfers, two freshman, and one international athlete.
• Deywilk Tavarez joins the Ramblers after playing her sophomore season at Charleston. He averaged 12.9 ppg and 3.6 rpg while there. He dropped double-figures 20 times, including a career-high 32 points against Northeastern.
• Joshua Ola-Joseph, Kayde Dotson, Dominick Harris, and Xavier Amos join him as transfers.
• Nic Anderson and Chuck Love III look to make their collegiate debuts in their rookie seasons, while Alexander Richardson came from oversees where he played in Germany.
• Loyola is coming off a 25-12 campaign last season that saw a trip to the NIT semifinals in Indianapolis. The Ramblers finished 12-6 in A-10 play and beat No. 5 Saint Louis to advance in the A-10 Tournament where No. 1 VCU bested Loyola. The Ramblers beat San Jose State, San Francisco, and Kent State to reach Hinkle Fieldhouse in the NIT.
• Head coach Drew Valentine enters his fifth season at the helm. He holds an 83-51 record as head coach.

SCOUTING DEPAUL
The Blue Demons are coming off a 14-20 overall record last season with a 4-16 finish in the Big East. A bulk of their wins came on their home court, finishing the year at 11-8 in Wintrust. DePaul closed the year with a loss to Creighton in the conference tournament and a loss to Cincinnati in April at the College Basketball Crown in Vegas.

Four letterwinners return for DePaul highlighted by the leading scorer from last year's squad. CJ Gunn averaged 12.9 ppg on 42.9 percent from the field. He also netted 53 threes and shot 77 percent at the line. Gunn scored double-figures 24 times, including a season-high 23 points at Providence. He went 8-13 from the field with three threes. He added seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and a steal.