Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (1-0) vs. Illinois-Chicago Flames (1-0)
The 2022-23 NCAA men’s basketball schedule kicks into high gear on Friday when the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers take on the Illinois-Chicago Flames at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago.
It is a battle of two early-season undefeated teams on Friday, as the Ramblers defeated Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday, 88-82 while the Flames knocked off Trinity Christian, 82-48. These teams have not faced each other since November 2021, when Loyola defeated UIC, 80-63. In fact, the Ramblers have won the last nine meetings between these teams.
Loyola-Chicago is coming off an impressive 25-8 season that saw the team go 13-5 in the conference. The Ramblers rolled through the MVC Championship, winning all three games to advance to the NCAA Tournament where they were defeated by Ohio State, 54-41. The club opened with an early-season victory, knocking off Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday, 88-82.
This was an exciting contest that saw Sheldon Edwards hit a jump shot as time expired to force overtime, then the Ramblers hit two 3-pointers and added five free throws to come away with a victory. The late-game heroics became necessary as Loyola-Chicago shot just 22.2% after the break. Tom Welch had a huge night, finishing with a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. The 15 points were a single-game high.
Ready to relive last night ??
Shoutout to @ThePackLUC for breaking the student attendance record with 1?,4?9?1? students! pic.twitter.com/sXAzmdtAqi
— Loyola Men's Basketball (@RamblersMBB) November 8, 2022
Head coach Drew Valentine has been impressive in his second season with the team. At just 30 years old, he has already established himself as one of the bright young coaches, and this team should be quite formidable all season long. Valentine has coached such players as Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, who praised Loyola when they hired Valentine. “To no surprise, he went on to play and continue to learn the game from legendary coach Greg Kampe at Oakland University. To follow that up, he landed at Michigan State under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Tom Izzo, and finally on to join Coach Moser's staff at Loyola. Drew has been preparing for this opportunity for as long as I can remember, and I am thrilled to see him get what he deserves.”