 "Photo: Loyola Athletic Department/Steve Woltmann")
 "Photo: Loyola Athletic Departmen/Steve Woltmann")
If anyone has information regarding the whereabouts of the Loyola men’s basketball team from November and December, please contact Head Coach Jim Whitesell. Rambler fans would certainly love to have that team back.
Since the calendar changed to 2010, the Ramblers have just one win (at UIC) against seven losses, all coming in conference play. The last three losses haven’t been close as Loyola has lost those games by an average of 19 points following the heartbreaking one-point loss to Butler.
This past week, Loyola went on the road and dropped games at Detroit (83-63) and Wright State (66-48). The funny thing is, in both games the Ramblers held second-half leads before seeing the wheels come right off.
“[The struggle in finishing games] was pretty evident in both the Detroit game and the Wright State game,” said freshman forward Ben Averkamp. “We played almost 70 minutes of real good basketball on the road but couldn’t close the deal in either game.”
A 37-35 halftime turned into a one-point deficit with about 12 minutes to go, but then Detroit went on a 16-4 run and never looked back. junior Terrance Hill had a strong offensive game for the Ramblers with 20 points, and senior Andy Polka narrowly missed having a double-double as he ended up with 12 points and nine boards. However, it was not enough to offset Detroit as they place four players in double figures, led by Chase Simon’s 30 points and Eli Holman’s double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Down by five (32-27) at the half at Wright State, Loyola kept within striking distance, pulling within one at 49-48 on senior Marcus Thomas’ three-pointer with six minutes to go. From there on, the Ramblers went ice-cold as the Raiders scored the last 17 points of the game to pull away with the victory.
“There were three possessions for each team that essentially changed the game,” said Averkamp. “We came up empty while they hit back-to-back-to-back threes. No longer was it a one possession game like it had been for the first 35 minutes.”
Thomas had 13 points, but he was the only Rambler in double figures with the team shooting only 29.2 percent from the floor in the second half and just 36.4 percent for the game. Wright State was led in scoring by Vaughn Duggins with 21 and Cory Cooperwood who chipped in with 19. Cooperwood also pulled down 12 boards. Hill was Loyola’s leading rebounder with seven.
The month of January has to be mystifying for Whitesell and the entire team. They don’t resemble the team that started off 11-2. The past three games haven’t even come close to resembling the same team that had Butler on the ropes. What has gone wrong? On both sides of the ball, this team has been experiencing some problems in recent games that have adversely affected their record.
The Ramblers have been a very good defensive team this season, shutting their opponents down with pressure from its man-to-man defense. Yet, against Valpo and Detroit, Loyola’s defense failed them as they gave up 86 and 83 points, respectively. It was the first time since 2005 that Loyola has given up back-to-back 80+ point games. This came after Loyola only averaged giving up 62.3 points per game through the first 18 games of the season, including holding Butler to a season-low point total of 48. The defense did improve in holding Wright State to only 66 points, but by giving up that many points the offense has to pick up the slack, which it has not done to this point.
Through the first 10 games, Loyola averaged 71.1 points per game offensively. Over the last 11 games, that figure has slipped by about 14 points. Even in their last win over UIC, the Ramblers managed just 55 points. When the ball isn’t going in the basket at a high frequency, it puts more importance on defensive possessions, and it also puts more emphasis on winning the rebounding battle in order to win ball games.
In addition, until this past week, the Ramblers held a +4.9 rebounding advantage on average. However, Loyola was out-rebounded against Valpo, Detroit and Wright State, all of which resulting in blow out losses, to the tune of 119-91. They have proven they are a very good rebounding team, but they need to start winning the battle on the boards once again in order to get back on the winning track.
Loyola faces a grueling stretch coming up, and they are without the services of senior guard Aric Van Weelden who is out with a knee injury. Sophomore Jordan Hicks also missed the Wright State game with a foot injury. The Ramblers host Youngstown State on Thursday, Feb. 4 before playing Cleveland State on Feb. 6 and traveling to Butler on Feb. 8.
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