Illinois State vs Loyola-Chicago: 2018-19 College basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
Illinois State and Loyola-Chicago may be the two best teams in the MVC. What kind of game can we expect from these two on Saturday afternoon?
TV schedule: Saturday, January 12, 2:00 pm ET. ESPN2
Arena: Joseph J. Gentile Center in Chicago, Illinois
Now twenty-one years removed from the NCAA Tournament, Illinois State (9-7) has built a team that can win the MVC, but have faced a few struggles this season. There have been some nice wins (BYU and Boise State) but there have been some low moments as well. The 19-point loss at UIC was rough and the complete collapse last week at Valparaiso featured a loss on a half-court three-pointer. Fortunately, the Redbirds have recovered since that blow, winning home games against Evansville and Northern Iowa before heading back on the road.
Senior guard Milik Yarbrough (16.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 3.9 apg) is the player to watch for the Redbirds. He’s been impressive at times this season, including a 30-point effort in that loss at UIC. Senior forward Phil Fayne (15.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg) can also be a force down low, pacing Illinois State with 30 points against Cleveland State a month ago, while also leading the Redbirds in blocks this season.
Illinois State’s efficiency ratings aren’t impressive, and this team has struggled on offense at times in recent weeks. Despite preventing Valparaiso from having a field goal for a near 14-minute stretch, the Redbirds couldn’t formulate enough offense to pull away. They’ve scored less than 60 points in three of their last four games.
On the other side, Loyola-Chicago (9-7) opened the year as conference favorites after last season’s surprise run to the Final Four. While they did lose some of those contributors, this is still a team that can make some noise, though there’s been plenty of bad this year. They’ve already lost at home to Furman, Nevada, and Ball State and put up less than 50 points in each of their last three losses (Maryland, Saint Joseph’s, and Evansville).
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Senior guard Clayton Custer (13.9 ppg) is the defending MVC player of the year and senior guard Marques Townes (13.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg) is also back for another crack at the MVC crown. Down low, sophomore center Cameron Krutwig (13.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg) is a real force and will continue to blossom into the league’s best big man.
They’ve underachieved this season, but KenPom still has Loyola as the 23rd-rated defense, though that number may drop if they keep having performances like at Evansville this week. As of right now, Loyola is 1st in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage but an astounding 351st in offensive rebounding percentage. The Ramblers have also struggled with free throw shooting.
These teams were picked to finish top two and this should be a tight game. Both these Illinois squads are 2-1 early in MVC play and this will be an important game early in the conference season. Loyola is reeling after a 19-point loss at Evansville on Tuesday and should come out energized, but which Loyola squad will show up? Both teams have multiple scorers that can be leaned on, but Loyola has a big advantage if Krutwig can get going early. The Redbirds are a half-court heave away from being 3-0 but have lost all of their road games this season. How they come out to play in front of a hostile crowd after the sting of the Valpo game will be interesting to watch.
This is a match-up of two offenses that have had major struggles this season and this could definitely turn into a defensive struggle. I expect Loyola’s ferocious home crowd to give them the advantage, but this team has been Jekyll and Hyde at times. Not knowing which Loyola team will show up makes this a tricky game to read, though the Redbirds lack of road wins may be a larger mountain to climb. Above all, these are the two best teams in a somewhat weak MVC and this could turn into one of the league’s best games of the year.
Next. MVC Power Rankings. dark
I give the advantage to Loyola, but these two teams are certainly worse than projected during the preseason. If they can shoot like they did against Indiana State, then Loyola will take this easily, but I don’t quite see it happening again.