CHICAGO - Men's basketball closes its two-game road trip at Colorado State Saturday afternoon. The Ramblers and Rams tip off at 12:30 p.m. CT on USA Network. 

FOLLOW ALONG
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RAMBLINGS
• The Ramblers opened the week with a 107-93 loss at Air Force, Despite the loss, Loyola had five Ramblers in double-figures, including the first 20-point game by Donald Hand Jr. who scored a season-high 25.
• Guillaume Grotzinger (14), Xavier Amos (13), Jason Schofield (11), and Dayan Nessah (10) also scored at least 10 points against the Falcons. Grotzinger added a team-high seven assists, while Schofield grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
• Loyola went 2-0 to open the season at home last week. The Ramblers beat The Citadel (77-52) and West Georgia (76-53) in Gentile Arena.
• The last time Loyola beat two Division I opponents by at least 20 points back-to-back was in the 2024-25 season. The Ramblers beat Tulsa (89-53, +36) on Nov. 23 and Eastern Michigan (76-54, +22) on Dec. 3.
• Nessah led the Ramblers over the two game stretch, averaging 17.0 points per game. He had a game-high in both contests. Nessah scored a season-best 19 points and grabbed nine boards in his Maroon & Gold debut, and he followed up with 15 more vs. the Wolves.
• Schofield and Jayden Dawson scored 12 each against West Georgia, while Malick Diallo played his first game in the Loyola uniform and scored 10.
• The Ramblers opened the season with a 77-52 win over The Citadel. Four Ramblers finished in double-figures, including two double-doubles by Schofield and Guillaume Grotzinger.
• It marked the first pair of double-doubles in a game since the 2022 MVC Championships. Schofield had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Nine boards were on the offensive glass. Grotzinger had 10 points and 11 assists.
• After the first two games of the season, Schofield led the country in offensive rebounds with 7.0 per game. He had nine in the opener vs. The Citadel and grabbed five more vs. UWG.
• As a team after opening week, the Ramblers ranked in the NCAA top-20 in defensive field goal percentage (29.9 percent), and opponent points per game (52.5). They landed in the top-50 in turnovers forced per game (18.0) and top-75 in offensive rebounds per game (15.0).
• Nessah is among the league's top scorers, averaging 17.0 ppg and ranks tied for 12th. He's also tied for eighth with 8.0 rpg.
• Grotzinger has 17 assists over two games, averaging 8.5 per game and ranking first in the league and eighth in the country. His 11 assists against The Citadel were an A10 game-high so far this year.
• Loyola was tabbed 11th in the A10 Preseason Poll, while VCU was the favorite with 11 first-place votes.
• Drew Valentine enters his sixth season as head coach and 10th overall with the Ramblers. At the helm, he holds a 94-76 record.

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE
• The Rams enter the weekend at 3-0 after beating Montana State, Idaho, and Portland State at home.
• Colorado State is coming off a 23-13 season that saw a NIT appearance. The Rams were selected fourth in the Pac 12 Preseason Poll as they enter their inaugural season in the league.
• Jase Butler is leading the Rams in points per game (15.5), rebounds per game (8.0), assists per game (6.0) and steals per game (2.0). He posted a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double vs. Montana State and dropped 19 points against Idaho. He had six assists in both games.
• Ali Farokhmanesh is in his second season at the helm and holds a 24-13 record.

SERIES HISTORY
Colorado State leads the all-time series, 3-1. They won last season's meeting 80-67 in Gentile Arena.