The No. 21 Loyola Ramblers (19-4, 14-2) put first place on the line Friday night as they host the Southern Illinois Salukis (11-11, 5-11) in a Missouri Valley Conference tilt. With two games left in the regular season, the Ramblers need to sweep the Salukis to clinch at least a share of the MVC title, with Drake also at 14-2. Tipoff from Gentile Arena in Chicago is set for 9:00 p.m. ET and will be carried on CBSSN.
Loyola is -19, and the game has a total of 125. The teams will also meet in Chicago on Saturday night, their first two meetings of the 2020-21 season. The teams split two games last season, with each team winning at home and SIU’s last win at Gentile Arena was on Feb. 17, 2017.
Salukis Looking for Upset
SIU is 10-10-1 ATS this season, and they haven’t played on the road since Feb. 7, which was Super Bowl Sunday. The Salukis are 3-6 on the road and going into a stadium where the Ramblers have an 11-1 record this year. The SIU offense ranks 278th in scoring at 66.9 points per game, and they are in the bottom 20 in the country with just 27.5 rebounds per game.
Leading scorer Marcus Domask has been out since Jan. 4, and the Salukis have desperately missed his 16.3 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game. Guard Lance Jones is averaging 12.9 points per game, while guard Ben Harvey is at 10.1 points per game. Center Kyler Filewich leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per game and also scores 7.2 points per game.
Last weekend the Salukis split at home against Valparaiso, and they won the second game 67-64 after losing the opener by one. Jones led the way in the win with 21 points while Steven Verplancken Jr. had 12 points, Filewich had 11, and Dalton Banks scored 10.
Ramblers Gearing Up for March Run
Loyola ranks No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense as they allow just 55.7 points per game while ranking fourth in defensive rebounding and 35th in field goal percentage defense. The offense ranks third overall, shooting 51.1 percent from the field, and they rank 44th in shooting 37.2 percent from 3-point range.
Loyola is 13-7-1 ATS this season but just 1-4 over their last five games. They haven’t allowed more than 58 points since a 76-71 loss at Indiana State on Jan. 10.
Center Cameron Krutwig leads the Ramblers with 15.0 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game, and 3.0 assists per game. Guard Lucas Williamson is averaging 8.0 points per game, while forward Aher Uguak and guard Tate Hall are both at 7.9 points per game. Overall the balanced Ramblers have seven players scoring between 5.8 and 8.0 points per game to support Krutwig.
Loyola struggled to put away Valparaiso on Wednesday while rallying for a 54-52 win. The Ramblers trailed by three at half and had to pull out a defensive stop on the final play of the game to preserve the win. Keith Clemons led the way with 16 points while Krutwig scored 13, but the Ramblers shot just 38.5 percent from the field.
Betting Line and Pick
The Salukis have really struggled over the last two weeks, going 2-4 overall and ATS, and five of those were all games against the teams around them in the bottom of the league. Against Drake and Missouri State in the top three, SIU has lost four games by a combined 76 points. Look for Loyola to put the pedal to the metal and never look back, especially with a freshman Filewich guarding Krutwig down low.
FREE PICK: Loyola -19
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