Nov. 16, 2009
Loyola vs. Canisius Game Notes 
Loyola (0-1) vs. Canisius (0-0)
November 17, 2009 - 7:00 p.m. CT
Chicago, Ill. - Gentile Center
Radio • WNTD (950 AM); WAUR (930 AM);
WLUW (88.7 FM) • John Fitzgerald (play-by-play),John Tracy (analyst)
TV • Horizon League Network
www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv
TONIGHT'S GAME
After opening the season at Kansas State Friday night, Loyola returns to the Windy City to play its home opener against fellow Jesuit institution Canisius College. Loyola has prevailed in four of its last five home openers. The Ramblers play three of their next four games at home and following Tuesday's meeting with Canisius, head east to face another Jesuit rival, Holy Cross, Nov. 20. That will be Loyola's first trip into Worcester, Mass., since 1951. Loyola enters Tuesday's game having won six of its last eight games against non-League opponents.
SERIES NOTES
Tuesday's game will be the seventh all-time meeting between Loyola and Canisius, and the Golden Griffins own a 4-2 edge in the series. After Canisius took the first two contests in the series, both in 1959, the teams have split the last four meetings with the home team prevailing in each of those four games. Loyola is 2-1 all-time against Canisius in the Windy City and earned a 79-65 victory, thanks to 57 percent shooting and 19 points from Chris Williams, the last time the teams met at the Gentile Center, Dec. 22, 1999. The Ramblers and Griffins are playing for the first time since Dec. 2, 2000, when Canisius earned a 99-78 victory in Buffalo, N.Y. Loyola is 14-8 (.636) all-time versus current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
Loyola has prevailed in eight of its last 10 home openers and in the post-World War II era is 58-6 in its first home contest of a season. Loyola has won five of its last six home games versus non-Horizon League competition and under head coach Jim Whitesell is 48-27 (.640) all-time at the Gentile Center, including 26-7 (.788) in non-conference action.
ON THIS DATE IN LOYOLA HISTORY
One year ago to the day, Loyola picked up its first win over a Southeastern Conference foes since 1964 when it toppled Georgia, 74-53 in the first round of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off in West Lafayette, Ind., behind 16 points from J.R. Blount. Also on this date in 2001, Loyola gave a valiant effort but came up on the short end of an 80-70 decision in the season opener at Marquette despite 19 points and six assists from David Bailey. That game marked the collegiate debut of current NBA superstar Dwyane Wade, who finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists, three steals and a pair of blocks against the Ramblers.
JESUIT BASKETBALL SPOTLIGHT
Tonight's match-up between Loyola and Canisius is part of the nationwide Jesuit Basketball Spotlight project, using Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of Jesuit education. Both Loyola and Canisius are Jesuit schools. The Jesuit Basketball Spotlight project highlights games between men's and women's teams from the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities across the United States. Each of the 28 is dedicated to strong academics and teaching women and men to serve others and live a faith that does justice. Jesuit, Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S. have more han 200,000 students currently and more than 1.7 million living alumni.
YOUTH GONE WILD
Of the 16 players on the Ramblers' 2009-10 roster 10 are underclassmen and another, junior guard Terrance Hill, is playing his first season of NCAA Division I basketball after transferring from Coffeyville Community College. In fact, Loyola ranks tied for 10th in the nation for having the most underclassmen on a 2009-10 roster. Harvard leads the country with 14 underclassmen on its 2009-10 squad and despite its youth, Loyola isn't the youngest team in the Horizon League as Valparaiso also features 10 freshmen or sophomores on its 2009-10 edition.
GLOBETROTTING RAMBLERS
Loyola's 2009-10 roster features players from all over the country. In fact, this year's edition of the Ramblers includes players from nine different states - California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
ANDY ADDS ANOTHER
Earlier this month, Loyola received good news when Andy Polka was granted another year of eligibility, due to medical hardship, by the NCAA. The senior injured his ankle in the Ramblers' victory over UMKC Dec. 13, 2008, and was sidelined for all but one more game the remainder of the season. Should he opt to return, Polka's final year of eligibility will be the 2010-11 season.
SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED
Last week, Flavien Davis signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Loyola University Chicago next fall. An athletic, 6-foot-5 wing player from Wisconsin Lutheran in Milwaukee, Wis., Davis has had a decorated prep career and last season led his squad to the Wisconsin Division 2 state championship by averaging 16.9 ppg and 8.4 rpg for a team that finished with a 24-2 overall record. Davis is a three-time First Team All-Wisconsin Little Ten Conference honoree and last season was tabbed second team all-state by both the Associated Press and Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association.
ANDY 500
With his second rebound of the game in the season opener at Kansas State Nov. 13, Andy Polka became the 28th player in Loyola history to grab 500 or more rebounds in his career. The senior forward finished the game with 12 rebounds, all in the first half, to tie a career high set versus UIC March 2, 2007. A year ago, Leon Young snagged his 500th career misfire and closed out his time in a Rambler uniform with 562 rebounds, which ranks 24th in school history. The burly 6-foot-7 Polka was Loyola's leading rebounder as both a freshman and sophomore and despite appearing in only 11 contests due to injury a year ago, he also registered a team-high 5.5 rpg.
WHO WILL PUT THE "O" IN LOYOLA
The biggest challenge facing sixth-year Loyola head coach Jim Whitesell this season is who will provide the scoring punch on offense. Although it averaged only 63.3 ppg a year ago, Loyola will be trying to replace four of its top five scorers, who collectively accounted for 39.7 ppg, last season. Whitesell will look to a plethora of options to help fill the void in the backcourt due to the graduation of J.R. Blount (14.1 ppg), who finished his career ranked ninth on the school's career scoring chart with 1,603 points, and Justin Cerasoli (11.2 ppg).
JORDAN RULES
Sophomore Jordan Hicks developed into a bona fide scoring threat in the final month of the season in 2008-09 and he will be looked upon to shoulder some of the scoring responsibilities this year. The 6-foot-6 swingman closed out his rookie campaign by averaging 13.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.0 bpg and 1.4 spg, while shooting 54 percent (34-for-63) from the field, 55 percent (12-for-22) from three-point range, and 69 percent (11-for-16) from the foul line over the final seven games last season. Hicks' breakthrough performance came in Loyola's 71-67 victory at No. 15 Butler on Feb. 15, when he notched season highs of 23 points and eight rebounds to spearhead the upset. He either held or shared the team lead in scoring in three of the Ramblers' final six outings of the year and posted 20 points and seven rebounds at Milwaukee in the opening round of the Horizon League Championship last March. Hicks has been sidelined this preseason and also missed the opener at Kansas State due to an Achilles injury.
MAYBE IT IS HOW YOU START
Since the outset of the 2005-06 season, Loyola has compiled a 59-11 (.843) record in games in which it has held the lead at halftime, including a 12-1 mark in 2008-09.
NOT WITHOUT A HITCH
Head athletic trainer Dr. Tom Hitcho has worked 927 consecutive Loyola men's basketball contests heading into Tuesday's game versus Canisius. Since joining the staff for the 1977-78 campaign, "Hitch," as he is affectionately known to those on campus, has not missed a single game and has witnessed 431 Rambler victories. In his 33rd year at Loyola, Hitcho was inducted into the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
GETTING IT DONE WITH DEFENSE
In its 14 victories in 2008-09, Loyola surrendered only 56.6 ppg, while putting the clamps down on defense. In those wins, the Rambler permitted opponents to shoot a meager .389 (289-for-742) from the field, including .263 (61-for-232) from three-point land, while also forcing a total of 209 turnovers. Loyola limited Detroit to 41 points on Feb. 18 for the fewest points allowed since a 106-35 victory over Western Ontario on Dec. 4, 1964. Under Whitesell, the Ramblers have held opponents under 50 points on six occasions.
ON THE MARCUS
Marcus Thomas provided a lift off the bench last season in his first year with the Ramblers after transferring from Danville Area Community College in Danville, Ill. Dating back to last season, the Indianapolis native has buried 39 of his last 103 (.379) tries from long distance. Thomas, who led the team with 44 three-pointers a year ago, is averaging 9.8 ppg and is shooting 41 percent (11-for-27) from triple territory in his last five contests versus non-League opponents. After struggling at the foul line early last season, Thomas has drained 11 of his last 12 (.917) shots from the charity stripe and is coming off a team-best, 13-point performance at Kansas State last Friday night.
THAT 70s SHOW
Seventy points has been the benchmark for success when it comes to the Ramblers' offense the last few seasons. In 2007-08, Loyola went 7-0 when totaling at least 70 points. In fact, dating back to the 2006-07 season, Loyola has won 19 of its last 23 contests when it reaches the 70-point plateau, and was 7-3 when doing so in 2008-09.
LOOKING TO REGAIN NOVEMBER REIGN
Loyola is looking to reclaim some of its November magic when it plays the home opener against Canisius. In the program's first three seasons under Whitesell's guidance, the Ramblers posted an 11-4 (.733) record in games played in the season-opening month of November, but over the last two-plus campaigns, have gone just 5-8 (.385).
T TIME
In his first career appearance and start as a Rambler, junior Terrance Hill totaled 10 points and five rebounds in the season opener at Kansas State last weekend. The 6-foot-4 guard, who transferred from Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, also notched 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in a victory over Robert Morris in the team's only exhibition game this preseason.
GIANT SLAYERS
Included among the Ramblers' six Horizon League wins last winter were victories over Green Bay (62-60) at the Gentile Center and a 71-67 decision over then No. 15 Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse. In fact, Loyola was the only team in the Horizon League to upend the League's top-two finishers in the regular-season standings a year ago.
RAMBLERS MAKE THE GRADE
Loyola is one of only 24 men's basketball programs to have received a NCAA Public Recognition Award in each of the past two years. The NCAA issues a Public Recognition Award to programs that have multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in the top 10 percent of all men's basketball teams in the country. Also in this exclusive club over the last two seasons are tradition-rich schools such as Dayton, Duke, Holy Cross, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina, Princeton and Villanova to name a few.
WALT'S WORLD
Sophomore Walt Gibler finished up the 2008-09 season on a strong note by posting 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench against Milwaukee in the first round of the Horizon League Championship. Prior to that contest, the 6-foot-7 forward had struggled, totaling only 14 points in the final seven games of the regular season. The Cincinnati, Ohio native scored in double figures on three occasions as a rookie and was one of the more accurate free-throw shooters on the squad as he connected on 83 percent (50-for-60) of his tries from the charity stripe. Counting the Ramblers' exhibition contest this season, Gibler is contributing 10.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg and shooting 52 percent (12-for-23) from the field in his last three appearances. In his last five appearances versus non-League opponents, Gibler is chipping in 8.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg and is shooting 58 percent (14-for-24) from the field.
BIG BEN
Although it wasn't an official game, freshman Ben Averkamp made a statement in Loyola's exhibition game versus Robert Morris Nov. 2. The 6-foot-7 forward showed signs of his tremendous potential by posting game highs of 23 points and nine rebounds, to go with three blocks and three steals, in 27 minutes. An all-state player and the Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year in 2008-09, Averkamp connected on 11 of his 15 attempts from the field against Robert Morris, then followed that up with six points, a half dozen rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals at Kansas State in the season opener. His brother, Jason, is a senior forward at Milwaukee.
PHILLY'S BEST
Toward the end of last season, guard Courtney Stanley began to emerge as a solid point guard and he seems to have picked up where he left off. The 6-foot-1 Philadelphia, Pa., native accumulated five points, a career-best six rebounds and an assist in the season opener at Kansas State last Friday and dating back to last season, is contributing 4.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg and 2.0 apg in his last four appearances.
CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS
Although it dropped the season opener at Kansas State Nov. 13, Loyola managed to outrebound the Wildcats, 51-41, including by a 25-13 margin on the offensive glass. The Ramblers' 51 caroms were the most since also corralling 51 rebounds in a Dec. 2, 2003 overtime victory at UMKC.
LISTEN UP ALL YOU POLKAMANIACS
Andy Polka has been a fast starter in his career, as he has averaged 9.1 ppg and 8.7 through the first two games of the year in his first three-plus seasons as a Rambler. A year ago, the forward shot 53 percent (10-for-19) from the field at the Gentile Center and in a pair of games versus teams (St. John's and Cornell) from the state of New York accounted for 9.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Despite his size, Polka is an adept shooter from beyond the arc and has connected on 4 of his last 7 (.571) tries from long range dating back to last season. In last year's home opener versus Rockhurst, he tallied 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
FRESH START
By starting against Kansas State last Friday, Averkamp became the first Loyola true freshman since J.R. Blount in 2005 to appear in the starting lineup on opening night.
TERRIBLE TWO'S
The Ramblers are looking to avoid starting a season with consecutive losses for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign. In fact, in the post-World War II era, Loyola has opened a season with back-to-back setbacks only three times - in 1985-86, 1991-92 and 2000-01.
