Missouri St., Loyola-Chicago meet in conference play
Missouri State (7-7, 1-0) vs. Loyola of Chicago (9-5, 1-0)
Joseph J. Gentile Center, Chicago; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: MVC foes meet as Missouri State squares off against Loyola of Chicago. Each team won in their last game. Loyola of Chicago earned a 66-63 win at Valparaiso on Monday, while Missouri State won 65-52 at home against Evansville on Tuesday.
LEADING THE CHARGE: Loyola of Chicago's Cameron Krutwig has averaged 16 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists while Tate Hall has put up 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds. For the Bears, Keandre Cook has averaged 14.7 points and 5.4 rebounds while Tulio Da Silva has put up 10.7 points and 7.6 rebounds.
KEY CONTRIBUTOR: Krutwig has directly created 45 percent of all Loyola of Chicago field goals over the last three games. The junior big man has 15 field goals and 16 assists in those games.
COLD SPELL: Missouri State has lost its last four road games, scoring 59.3 points, while allowing 68.8 per game.
PASSING FOR POINTS: The Ramblers have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Bears. Loyola of Chicago has 50 assists on 69 field goals (72.5 percent) across its previous three contests while Missouri State has assists on 28 of 73 field goals (38.4 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Loyola of Chicago has attempted the second-most free throws among all MVC teams. The Ramblers have averaged 21 foul shots per game this season and 24 per game over their last five games.
