Loyola coach Ken Burmeister thought it would take until mid-January for his Ramblers, because of their seven new players, to start clicking smoothly.
The Ramblers “arrived” a couple of weeks late. But, with an eye on the upcoming Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament, they’re clicking now.
Loyola beat Wright State 85-67 Saturday for its second straight victory and escaped last place in the nine-school MCC. Eight teams make the tournament field.
Loyola and Wisconsin-Milwaukee are tied at 3-8, one-half game ahead of Cleveland State at 3-9. The Ramblers have games remaining against both Cleveland and Milwaukee, so they could finish seventh and avoid having to play league powerhouse Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round.
Key to Irish’s success: It’s no secret how to beat Notre Dame in the Big East: shut down Ryan Hoover. Hoover, the senior co-captain, scored 26 points in each of Notre Dame’s only two conference wins. Hoover also scored 26 in a five-point loss to Georgetown and 20 points in a six-point overtime loss to Rutgers.
In contrast, Hoover has averaged only eight points in Notre Dame’s other eight league losses.
Road warriors they’re not: The UIC Flames (8-13, 4-7 MCC) could solve their problems if they could only bottle the potion that flows for them in the Pavilion and take it on the road. Losses at Northern Illinois and Detroit recently dropped the team to 1-11 on the road. When the Flames host Butler on Thursday night, they will try to improve their Pavilion record against MCC guests to 12-1 over the last two years.
NIU mark: T.J. Lux scored 10 points and snared 11 rebounds for Northern Illinois in Saturday’s 57-51 loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay. It was his 10th double double of the season, breaking the school record for a freshman set by Donnell Thomas in 1987-88.
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