Loyola Earns Number Eight Seed, Will Face Detroit In First Round Of Horizon League Championship Tuesday - Loyola University Chicago Official Athletic Site

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Feb. 26, 2011

CHICAGO - The Loyola University Chicago men's basketball team will be the No. 8 seed in the 2011 Horizon League Championship, which opens up with first-round games on Tuesday, March 1. As the eighth seed, the Ramblers (16-14, 7-11 Horizon) will travel to No. 5 seed Detroit (16-15, 10-8 Horizon) for a 7 p.m. Eastern contest at Calihan Hall. Detroit swept the regular-season series between the teams this year.

The Ramblers have won three of their last four outings versus Horizon League opponents, with the lone loss coming at the hands of 2010 NCAA Runner-Up Butler earlier today, and did win four League games away from home this winter. Meanwhile, Detroit has won five of its last eight games overall and has claimed four straight at Calihan Hall.

In this season's meeting in the Motor City, Detroit held on for an 81-71 victory on Feb. 5 as Loyola nearly overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half. In that game, Andy Polka (18) and Geoff McCammon (15) combined for 33 points off the Ramblers' bench. When the teams played in Chicago on Jan. 6, the Ramblers couldn't make a seven-point, first-half advantage hold up in an 83-71 setback despite 18 points from McCammon.

Loyola is 25-30 all-time in League tournament play and is looking to win its first conference tournament crown since 1985.

The winner of Tuesday's game will face the winner of the No. 4 seed Valparaiso vs. No. 9 Youngstown State game in Milwaukee, Wis., on Friday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. Central.