Read through the rest of the NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheets here.
Conference: MAAC
Coach: Jimmy Patsos
Record: 24-8, 13-5 (2nd)
Rankings and Ratings:
- Kenpom: 127
- RPI: 80
- AP/Coaches: Unranked
Seeding?: Loyola might be able to get out in front of the play-in games, but the Greyhounds are still going to end up playing a one or two seed in the first round.
Names to know: Erik Etherly (13.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg), Dylon Cormier (13.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Robert Olson (11.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
Stats to know: All you really need to know about what the Greyhounds do can be found in their offensive rebounding percentage -- 38.8%, 14th in the country -- and their steal percentage -- 11.9%, 26th in the nation. This is an athletic group that plays hard and takes advantage of the length they have along their front line.
Tendencies: Loyola likes to press, which is a bit odd considering that they are in the bottom third of the country in terms of pace. That’s not something you generally see.
Big wins, bad losses: Nothing Loyola has done this season will really blow you away. They beat Bucknell and Iona and lost to a couple of teams at the bottom of their league. Their best performance probably came in the first half of their game at Kentucky, when they made the Wildcats work.
How’d they get here?: Loyola was the two seed in the MAAC Tournament, beating four seed Fairfield in the title game.
Outlook: The Greyhounds have a team that is fun to watch because of their athleticism. They have a coach who is tremendously entertaining on the sideline and a riot during a press conference. This is a group that you are going to like once you read all of the stories about them leading up to the tournament. And they are going to be heading home after their first game. Enjoy it while it lasts, Loyola.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.