Loyola (Chi)

State of '08: Illinois

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:40:02 -0700

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Illinois. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

ILLINOIS

ILLINOIS - In 2005, Bruce Weber led Illinois to the National Title game behind the amazing backcourt duo of Deron Williams and Dee Brown. But those were Bill Self's guys, and Weber's teams have gotten worse every season. Last year the Illini missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999.. and have little shot of making it this year as well. While Illinois is still the class of the state, SIU continues to the close the gap. The Illini's 2010 class can't get on to campus quickly enough.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - Before last season, SIU had made 6 NCAA Tournaments in a row, including two Sweet Sixteen runs along the way. Even last year, despite the mediocre 11-7 MVC record, the Salukis were better than many think.. as they knocked off Top 40 foes like Mississippi State, Saint Mary's, and Western Kentucky.. all of whom made the Big Dance.

BRADLEY - In 2006, Bradley made a name for itself, shocking many pundits by making the Sweet Sixteen. 2007 was arguably an equally successful regular season (an RPI of 38 vs 33 the previous season), but the Braves ended up in the NIT. Bradley has topped DePaul in the RPI each of the last 3 seasons (also beating them 3 times in a row), and should accomplish that feat again in 2009

DEPAUL - Still trying to find its groove in the Big East, DePaul should most likely finish in the conference's bottom 3 in 08-09. The program has made just 2 NCAA Tourney trips in the last decade, in 2000 & 2004. Fourth year coach Jerry Wainright has some work to do getting DePaul back to that level.

UIC - Veteran coach Jimmy Collins has led UIC to 3 NCAA Tournaments since taking over in 1996. Since their last trip in 2004, the Flames have been mired in mediocrity, going 32-34 in Horizon League games in that period. Another similar middle of the pack finish is expected in 08-09.

6. ILLINOIS STATE - 1998 was the last time the Redbirds made the Big dance, but 07-08 was the best since then. First year Tim Jankovich led his team to a 13-5 MVC record, and an RPI of 34. Illinois State had the 2nd highest RPI of any team that didn't make the Big Dance.. and got screwed by playing the only higher team (Dayton) in the 2nd round of the NIT. Another NIT is possible this season, but the NCAA Tournament will have to wait.

7. NORTHWESTERN - The Wildcats' futility is known to all fans, as the program has yet to reach the NCAA Tournament in its 100+ year existence. The last postseason trip (one of 3 ever) was in 1999, a first round loss in the NIT. From 02-04, BIll Carmody supplied some hope as NU finished with a .500 Big Ten record in '04 for the first time since 1968. But the hope has mostly fizzled out with just 3 wins in their last 34 conference games.

8. LOYOLA - Coming off a down season, Loyola is hoping to repeat the success they had in 06 & 07 when Blake Schilb led the Ramblers to 19 & 21 win seasons. Jim Whitesell's crew should most likely improve on last year's RPI of 222.

9. NORTHERN ILLINOIS - The Huskies are coming off two brutal seasons (just 12 D1 wins combined), and should once again be one of the worst teams in the MAC this season. But every couple years NIU has a decent run: In 2006, they upset DePaul (for the 2nd year in a row), as well as Kansas State, and Ohio. In 2003, they finished 3rd in the MAC and won two conference tourney games

10. CHICAGO STATE - From 2001 to 2003, Chicago State may have been the country's worst program. Now CSU is simply bad, and lacks a conference affiliation since leaving the Summit League after 2006. (2006 was oddly one of CSU's best ever D1 seasons, as they finished on a tear and went to the conference title game). Its hard to expect much from the Cougars any time soon.

11. WESTERN ILLINOIS* - One of the country's usual doormats, WIU is arguably coming off its best season since 1999. Which isn't saying too much considering the Leathernecks won just 10 D1 games and only beat one Top 200 team all season (North Dakota State). There's every reason to expect another 290-300 RPI this year.

12. EASTERN ILLINOIS* - In 2004, EIU went from being a run of the mill sub par program to one of the worst in the country. With an RPI of 337 last year, the Panthers were the 3rd worst full-time D1 team, only edging out UMES and fellow OVC team Jacksonville State.

* WIU and EIU have had very similar success recently, and have even split their meetings in the past 4 years. I give WIU the edge for being in the Summit League, which has outperformed the OVC for the last handful of seasons.

Last: Indiana (Yes, I know I reversed the order of Indiana & Illinois by mistake..) - Next: Iowa

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

Horizon League Quaterfinals: UIC Dominates Loyola

Bill Kintner — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:35:48 -0800

When a team doesn’t shoot well, doesn’t rebound well and doesn’t shoot free throws very well there is a pretty good chance they are not going to win that night and that describes Loyola in their loss to UIC in the quarterfinals 60-49.

Loyola (12-19) shot a poor 38.3 percent (18-47), only made 56.3 percent (9-16) and then got killed on the boards 36-20.

UIC (18-14) was not world-beaters either shooting just 36.2 percent (17-47) including just 3-15 from 3-point land but that rebounding margin and shooting 88.5 percent (23-26) from the free throw line providing them with their winning margin.

“It wasn’t pretty according to some bystanders and some of the people I talked to after the game, but it was a win for us and it was a win that was hard-fought, especially in the first half,“ according to UIC coach Jimmy Collins.

In the first half there were eight lead changes and five ties before Loyola’s Tracy Robinson hit a jumper with :53 left to put Loyola up 21-19 at the half. At that point the rebounding edge by UIC was small at 14-11.

In the second half all heck broke lose as both teams clunked shot after shot but the Flames creamed Loyola in rebounding 22-9.

Loyola coach Jim Whitesell pointed to the bad shooting and the poor rebounding of his team as big factors in the loss.

“”Give them a lot of credit, I don’t think either of us shot it great. Sometimes you have to get the extras like offensive rebounds,” said Whitesell. “That’s what they did. They didn’t shoot it well but they got some extra boards to make up for it. In a game like this, if you get two shots at a basket or three sometimes it gets you going.”

UIC helped keep Loyola off balance by frequently switching defenses from zone to man to man.

“It was a team effort. The coaches did a good job of switching us from zone to man to zone and we were able to contain them,” explained UIC player Josh Mayo who led all scorers with 17 points.

Robinson led Loyola with 15 points.

Notes:

-UIC leads the all-time series with Loyola 29-13.

-There was no 3-point shootout between students of UIC and Loyola because there weren’t any at the game. I think there may have been three UIC students but I didn’t see any Loyola students.

-UIC plays Butler Saturday night at about 7:30 p.m.

Wright State Wins Ninth in a Row

Bill Kintner — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:18:54 -0800

DAYTON – Another close game, another win for the Raiders, as Wright State holds on to beat Loyola 55-51

That makes nine straight wins by the Raiders and every win has been by single digits. Wright State (18-6, 10-4 HL) has only played three games that were decided by double digits this year.

Unfortunately for Loyola (9-15, 5-9 HL) that makes 12 straight games decided by less than 10 points and only four of them were wins.

Tonight the Raiders jumped out to an 11-0 lead as Will Graham contributed a jumper and a layup, Vaughn Duggins did the same and Todd Brown sunk a 3-pointer.

But hold on, the Ramblers went on a 22-4 run to go up by seven at 22-15 at the 5:12 mark led by a couple of long-range 3-pointers by Justin Cerasoli.

With 1:34 left in the half Wright State’s Cooper Land sunk a 3-pointer to pull the Raiders to within three points at 30-27.

The two teams battled to a draw and that was the final score going into halftime.

In the second half there were four ties and 12 lead changes.

Wright State took the lead for good at the 2:15 mark when Will Graham made a layup to put the Raiders up by one at 48-47.

Will Graham a player known more for defense and assists had a big game as he scored 17 points by slashing and driving to the basket.

Duggins praised Graham after the game saying, “We are not going to have a good game from every one. I think it is the best I have seen him play. He came out with great energy. They just couldn’t guard him tonight.”

Wright State coach Brad Brownell thought this may have been Graham’s best game.

“He rebounded the ball well. Will goes to the basket real well; he has just a little extra burst of energy. He covers a lot of ground on his dribble,” said Brownell.

Duggins led all scorers with 20 points and Leon Young led Loyola with 13 points.

Although Loyola took 55 shots to Wright State’s 40 shots, the Raiders out-shot the Ramblers 50 percent (20-40) to 36.4 percent (20-55), from 3-point land 27.5 percent (6-16) to 20 percent (4-20) and from the free throw line 81.8 percent (9-11) to 43.8 percent (7-16).

Loyola coach Jim Whitesell said his team just couldn’t get the big basket when they needed it.

“We couldn’t get the basket or two when we needed it. Give them (Wright State) credit they made those shots and we didn’t help ourselves on the Free throw lines,” explained a tired Whitesell.

Brownell thought that his team’s ability to bounce back after several Loyola runs was key to his team pulling out another win.

” I am proud of the way we finished the game again. Our defense was outstanding in the second half,” said Brownell. “I was proud of our guy’s ability to withstand a bad spell or two and to not give into it. A couple of times we were back on our heels and we were able to come back.”

Notes:

-Referee Rick Hartzell was waiting before the game for the cheerleaders to finish up on the court. He spotted a little tot sitting in the courtside seats with his dad. He walked over and handed him ball to hold for a minute. Right before tip-off he motioned for the little guy to throw him the ball. He got it out to him on a single bounce and the kid had a neat memory from the game.
-Wright State leads that all-time series 15-14.
-Loyola’s next game is on Saturday at Detroit at 2:30 p.m.
-Wright State’s next game is Saturday at home against UIC at 7 p. m.

NABC All-Star Game Rosters

Press Release — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:14:15 -0700

AMERICAN TEAM

Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown

Aaron Brooks Oregon 6-0 160 Seattle, WA
Justin Doellman Xavier 6-9 210 Union, KY
Sean Denison Santa Clara 6-11 245 Nelson, British Columbia
Caleb Green Oral Roberts 6-8 255 Tulsa, OK
Jarrius Jackson Texas Tech 6-2 185 Monroe, LA
Trey Johnson Jackson State 6-5 218 Jackson, MS
Carl Landry Purdue 6-7 245 Milwaukee, WI
Dan Nwaelele Air Force 6-5 206 Bothell, WA
DJ Strawberry Maryland 6-5 201 Corona, CA
Kyle Visser Wake Forest 6-11 255 Grand Rapids, MI
Jamaal Tatum Southern Illinois 6-2 175 Jefferson City, MO

Head Coach: John Brady, LSU (Belhaven, 1976)

NATIONAL TEAM

Name School Ht. Wt. Hometown

Bobby Brown Cal State Fullerton 6-2 175 Los Angeles, CA
Zabian Dowdell Virginia Tech 6-3 200 Pahokee, FL
Adam Haluska Iowa 6-5 210 Carroll, IA
Coby Karl Boise State 6-4 204 Mequon, WI
Cartier Martin Kansas State 6-7 220 Houston, TX
Torrell Martin Winthrop 6-5 200 Columbia, SC
Ivan Radenovic Arizona 6-10 240 Belgrade, Serbia
Courtney Sims Michigan 6-11 245 Boston, MA
Rashad Jones-Jennings Arkansas-Little Rock 6-8 231 Chattanooga, TN
Blake Schilb Loyola-Chicago 6-7 220 Rantoul, IL

Head Coach: Jim Larranaga, George Mason (Providence, 1971)

Wright State Wins 9th of 11

Bill Kintner — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 18:25:46 -0800

Chicago – Last time Loyola played Wright State; the Raiders shot an impressive 56 percent against a weak Loyola defense and creamed the Ramblers 81-55.

Today Loyola brought their good defense to the game, but couldn’t find their offense as Wright State gets a big road win 59-47.

Wright State’s tough defense held the Ramblers to 35.8 percent shooting (19-53), including a meager 15.9 percent from 3-point land.

“You can’t have 17 turnovers and shoot 34 percent. Offensively that was as poorly as we played all year. Give Wright State the credit on that, we were just beat to the punch,” said Loyola Coach JimWhitesell. “We got off to a good start, then after that we had problems defending them for awhile.”

Things started off good for Loyola (13-9, 4-5 HL) when Patrick Kye put in a lay-up and Majak Kou hit a 3-pointer to give the Ramblers a 5-0 lead.

After a lay-up by Wright State’s Vaughn Duggins, Kye hit a jumper to go up 7-2.

After that the wheels fell off the wagon for the Ramblers as Wright State (14-8, 7-2 HL) started to get into gear.

Wright State’s Drew Burleson hit a jumper, then got a pass from Duggins under the basket and layed it in to make it 7-6.

At the 14:41 mark Duggins hit a 3-pointer to give the Raiders a one point lead at 14-13 and Loyola never led again in the game.

At the end of the first half Wright State let a little more air out of Loyola’s tires when Scottie Wilson got a pass from Wood and put in a 15 foot jumper right as the buzzer went off to give the Raiders a 35-25 lead..

Loyola came out of half time on fire and went on an 8-0 run to cut Wright State’s lead to two points at 35-33.
DaShaun Wood hit a 3-pointer at the 16:31 mark to stop the bleeding for the Raiders.

The Raiders built the lead back up to as high as nine points before Loyola made one more run at the Raiders. At the 2:34 mark J. R. Blount was fouled by Burleson, he made both foul shots to cut Wright State’s lead to four points at 51-47 with just 2:34 to go.

That was the last basket Loyola would make in the game.

Just 12 seconds later Burleson hit a lay up and then the Raiders scored six more points to get what used to be a rare road win. But this year the Raiders are 2-2 on the road and still just a half game behind first place Butler in the Horizon League.

Butler won today on the road at Detroit 68-58.

Wright State’s Coach Brad Brownell thought that the Raiders caught Loyola at the perfect time after they lost an over-time heart-breaker at home to the number 11 ranked Butler Bulldogs.

“We maybe caught Loyola at a good time after a really disappointing loss and a tough game against Butler,” explained Brownell

There were only three players who scored in double figures.

Loyola’s Blake Schlib scored 14 points, Wright State’s Wood had 13 points and Brown had 10 points.

“We had half of the equation down. We were getting stops but we were not making them pay for that. Teams go cold, but eventually they go on a run. But with out us scoring they were able to pull away,” explained Loyola’s Leon Young.

Notes:

*Wood and Burleson both raved about the chicken served for the pre-game meal at Embassy Suites. Look for chicken to be served again at future pre-game meals.

*Chairmen of the Boards…Loyola came into the game as the top rebounding team in the Horizon League. Today they out-rebounded the Raiders 37-34.

*Loyola has a slim lead in the all-time series 14-13.

*Loyola’s next game is at Youngstown State on January 29th at 7 p.m.

*Wright State’s next game is at Green Bay on January 29th at 8 p.m.

Wright State Blows Out Loyola-Ill

Bill Kintner — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:23:27 -0800

Dayton – The fans attending the Loyola-Wright State game came to see the main event, a match-up of two of the better teams in the Horizon League.

The under card was a match-up of two number fives, probably the two best players in the Horizon League. It was Loyola’s Blake Schlib versus Wright State’s DeShaun Wood.

Wright State won the main event decisively 81-55, more on that later.

Wood won the match-up of the fives, decisively by going 12-17 from the field to score a game-high 32 points to Schlib’s 3-10 from the field to score eight points.

Wood did everything. He drove the lane, hit a couple of 3-pointers and was perfect from the line. After only scoring 12 points the last two games, he stepped up to lead the Raiders to their strongest game yet this season.

“Sometimes you just get in a zone, the basket looks real big and that’s what happened tonight. My teammates put me in a position to get those shots and they fell,” said an excited Wood.

At the half Wright State (10-7, 3-1 HL) led by seven at 37-30. The Raiders put the game away during the next six minutes as they went on a 17-2 run to go up 54-32.

Wood said that a strong start in the second half was the key to keeping the Ramblers at bay.

“Loyola is a very offensive team they could get a quick couple of threes and be right back in the game. We wanted to win the first five minutes of the second half. We won the first five and it carried over to the rest of the second half,” explained Wood.

Wright State’s Drew Burleson who took only one shot in the first half came back to score 11 points in the second half. Coming into this game he needed just nine points to become the 26th Raider to score 1000 points. He got the 1000th point on a 3-pointer at the 2:47 mark to put the Raiders up by 24 at 79-55.

Burleson seemed relieved to finally break the 1000 point barrier after failing to do it his last two games.

“I try to let the game come to me a lot of times. I don’t like to force things. I don’t care I just wanted to get it,” said a beaming Burleson. “I was aware of it and just wanted to get it off my back. I want to thank Jordan (Pleiman) for getting that forth foul. I don’t know if I would have been going back in.”

For Loyola (11-6, 3-2) it was a long night as Wright State’s tough defense held them to 35.3 percent (18-51) shooting night. From 3-point land they shot just 16.7 percent (2-12).

“We got really handled in the second half. That is about as nicely as I can put it. We got beaten to every loose ball in the second half. We got taken out of everything we do,” said Loyola Coach Jim Whitesell. “We tried all sorts of different things on Wood and not one of them was effective.”

After the pasting at Butler last Saturday Wright State Coach Brad Brownell thought that the last two hard practices set the tone for this win and the Raiders hot shooting that resulted them shooting 56.4 percent (31-55).

“I think we had two very tough days of practice. It is neat when you do that as a coach for the kids to see the rewards from that. It doesn’t always show up in this business, said Brownell. “We were really ready and active defensively.

The Ramblers were led by Majak Kou with 15 points. Leon Young scored 12 points and J. R. Blount put in 10 points.

For the Raiders in addition to Wood and Burleson, Todd Brown scored 11 points and Vaughn Duggins scored 10 points.

Notes:

*Among the three NBA scouts in attendance was former Miami basketball player, coach and athletic director Darrel Hedric who was here as a scout for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Utah Jazz were represented by former Nebraska, Robert Morris and Duquesne Coach Danny Nee. Hedric said they were here to watch Schlib, but that Wood was the best player on the court. It was just too bad he was so short.

*Wright State had the old politically incorrect Viking Raider mascot back from retirement for the game. At half time Wright State unveiled a new wolf mascot that left some of fans their gasping as it was uglier than the wolf it replaced. When all three Raider mascots stood together at half court it was evident that the Raider mascots have been going down hill each time they introduce a new one.

*Loyola leads the all-time series 14-12.

*Loyola’s next game is at UIC on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

*Wright State’s next game is Saturday versus Green Bay at 7 p.m.

Who is the Best Mid-Major Player?

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 09:28:44 -0800

Horizon League Preview

CHN — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 09:55:32 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

Horizon League Preview

Conference Rank: 15th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Blake Schilb, Loyola, G

Ryan Evanochko, UWGB, G

DeShaun Wood, Wright St, G

Quin Humphrey, Youngstown St, G/F

Othyus Jeffers, UIC, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
88	Loyola Chicago	1	NCAA
106	Butler	2
132	UW Green Bay	3
145	Illinois Chicago	4
163	Wright State	5
176	Detroit	6
220	UW Milwaukee	7
229	Cleveland St	8
283	Youngstown St	9

Preseason Head Coach Interviews

Brad Brownell - Wright State

Rob Jeter - UW Milwaukee

Tod Kowalczyk - UW Green Bay

2006-07 Preview: #88 Loyola Chicago

Joel Welser — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:31:40 -0700

Led by Blake Schilb (19 ppg), the Ramblers could make their first tourney trip since 1985.