Arch Madness vs. Drake Preview and Game Thread -- 3-6-2022

[JCT]

Sunday, March 6, 2022 1:00 p.m.
Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri


Loyola makes it back to the Arch Madness Final for the third time in five seasons on Sunday, hoping to capture an MVC Conference Tournament Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It's a bittersweet moment for those of us who fought hard to get Loyola into the MVC back in 2013. Now the Ramblers face their last game in the MVC.

I was one of a lot of Loyola fans that wanted to have an appreciation for the MVC at Arch Madness this year, but it was shut down when the entire league started rooting against us for everything (even a chance for a multi-bid opportunity). The cheap shots on Sister Jean made me sad. So I'm sadly just shaking my head and waiting for us to move on to the next opportunity. What a shame-- not the kind of people that you want to schedule a home-and-home with....

Loyola was pretty emphatic in their wins against 2021-22 MVC Regular Season Champion Northern Iowa and 2018-19 and 2012-20 MVC Champion Bradley. Two games against top competition, and neither of them got to 51 points.... Maybe (hopefully) the Ramblers are focused and resolute about beating these teams that bedevil them....

I was expecting the Missouri State Bears to be the opponents in this game, but the team that swept Loyola at home and on the road got the win in the semi-final. Drake beat Loyola in Des Moines Two late free throws by the coach's son with 1.1 seconds left gave Tucker DeVries the winning points against Missouri State.

Drake was picked to win the Valley in the MVC preseason poll, capturing 29 of the 43 votes for first place

The Bulldogs will most likely start 6'0" point guard Roman Penn, 6'2" senior guard D.J. Wilkins, 6'6" senior forward Tremell Murphy, 6'3" senior guard Garrett Sturtz, and 6'7" guard/forward Tucker DeVries. Six-ten senior Darnell Brodie has been coming off the bench with fellow senior forward ShanQuan "Tank" Hemphill. In Drake's win on Jan. 30, Hemphill and Brodie led the Bulldogs in the plus/minus stats with 21 and 19 respectively.

The coach's son, Tucker DeVries, leads the team in scoring (13.9 ppg) and ranks second on the team in minutes played. DeVries takes a lot of shots to get his points-- he shoots only 41.8% from the field and only 33.8% from behind the arc.

Penn has played against Loyola for several years, so most Rambler fans know he plays with a lot of energy and creativity. Penn is averaging 10.3 points and 3.6 assists per game. The 6'3" Sturtz averages 11.0 points per game, but leads the team with an astounding 7.5 rebounds, 34 steals, and 86 trips to the free throw line. Sturtz' 60% field goal percentage leads the team, and he leads the MVC in Box Score Plus/Minus (8.5) and offensive rating (137.2, well above runner-up Gaige Prim at 121.1). Hemphill averages 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds. Murphy is the team's best inside scorer and defender, averaging 8.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.

Loyola has been superbly focused and resolved in St. Louis. On Friday, Loyola systematically demolished Bradley, and on Saturday the Ramblers kept league regular season champions Northern Iowa from scoring a field goal in the last 15 minutes and 12 seconds of the game.

The Ramblers are well-acquainted with Drake-- the two teams squared off in last season's MVC Championship. Loyola was swept this season as Drake really tried to get to the foul line. Drake is a fine team, but their early season flubs have kept them out of at-large talks, and their wins over Loyola have dragged the Ramblers down to bubble status. Wichita State fans talked about this-- the very good men's basketball teams that only won when it was a tough or noteworthy opponent, but took their eye off the ball a lot and got dumb losses to teams they should have buried. That was Loyola for many years back in the 2000s and early 2010s.

Today's game will determine the official MVC representative to the NCAA Tournament. If it's Loyola, they will probably get a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. If it's Drake, they will get a 13 seed and Loyola might get a play-in bid as an at large.

How the game is played and how it is officiated is important-- in Loyola's two losses to Drake, the Ramblers were called for an average of 24 fouls. That changed how players defended, how points were scored, how fast the pace was played, how much attention was paid to offense as opposed to defense. Loyola needs to defend without fouling and keep the turnovers low to win against very good teams like Drake.


Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 3_6_22.pdf

Drake game notes: https://godrakebulldogs.com/news/2022/3 ... -game.aspx

TV/Streaming video: CBS Broadcast Television https://www.cbs.com/live-tv/stream/

Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Archi ... &type=Live

Live stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/tou ... =0&tid=205

Vegas odds: Pending

[Ramblin Ray]

Wilkins will not play today.He has been out with a serious foot problem.Drake’s bench is not deep now.Let’s go get them today.Go Ramblers.

[AMDG]

We are here anyway so we might as well win

[Rambling0101]

Shot distribution has been the major change in the 2 games at Arch. Ramblers will roll if we continue to get 20 plus shots for the bench.

[goramblers2011]

My favorite was seeing numerous Bradley fans, grown "men", booing Sister Jean when she was shown on the jumbotron. Listen, I get you dislike Loyola. I get that the Sister Jean coverage can be a bit much sometimes. But imagine being an adult standing and booing a 102 year old nun. Just mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging behavior.

Anyways, let's leave no doubt today as to who the best in the Valley is. Both Drake and Loyola look hungry in STL. Two experienced teams who simply know how to win big games. Both teams fight tooth and nail for everything. I think it's going to be a close one, but we pull it out by 5 with a big game from Quise. Lucas and Aher need to make it 40 minutes of hell for Tucker, no easy shots. And need to somehow contain Sturtz, the man who is always in the right place at the right time.

[swellafelon]

Wilkins actually tore an ACL recently and is, as Ray said, out. It is Penn that has had recurring foot problems, but Penn will play.

[ahunte1]

Wilkins actually tore an ACL recently and is, as Ray said, out. It is Penn that has had recurring foot problems, but Penn will play.

Ramblermania.net regrets the error.

[Rambler303]

Good preview JCT. Believe the hostile environment has actually worked in our favor, right now it’s Loyola against the MVC world and the team knows it. They have played with an edge the past few days we haven’t seen in months, think the “no one believes in us” mentality is a powerful one that has helped out this weekend.

That said, let’s go out on a high note to end our Valley time. Let’s win today and take the bid, would be a fitting ending to our MVC story. Go Ramblers!

[swellafelon]

Fanduel has the Ramblers as a 5 point favorite.

[swellafelon]

Chris Knight hasn't had a great Arch Madness to date but I think he's due for a breakout game with the favorable matchups Drake presents. Tom Welch should also benefit from playing against smaller opponents.

I don't think it will happen, but I wouldn't mind seeing Jacob Hutson get some meaningful minutes as well to see if he can score in the low post against Drake. Maybe draw a foul or two against Murphy or Hemphill.