Loyola-Chicago Ramblers vs. Illinois State Redbirds Prediction & Game Preview - 2/21/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Redbird Arena, Normal, IL

Where to watch: ESPN+

DraftKings: Check back later

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Caesars: Check back later

Loyola: 20-6 (11-4 MVC)

Illinois State: 11-17 (4-11 MVC)

Are we getting another year of sister Jean leading the way for the Loyola Ramblers? We might as well because why on earth would we not be blessed, no pun intended, with the greatest sister of all-time leading her ramblers to a potential berth in the NCAA tournament?

Because it does appear to be that time again that Loyola is in the conversation for a potential spot in the field of 68, yet surprisingly enough Loyola is not the top team in the Missouri Valley Conference at this point. Loyola is trailing Northern Iowa by a half-game in the standings, so there is no clear-cut favorite going into this last stretch of games.

If you look at the Missouri Valley Conference down the line you'll see at least six teams that are worthy of competing for the conference championship. There is Missouri State, there's Drake, there's Bradley, even southern Illinois still has a chance having split its 16 conference games.

But Loyola still holds a place in our hearts ever so dearly and we have a pretty pristine hunch that they will be in the running for such a lovely trip to the tournament once again.

Loyola is coming off a rare home loss two those same Drake Bulldogs that we mentioned earlier, losing 83 to 76 at home after falling behind by 12 points at halftime. Lucas Williamson led the way with 27 points and made 43 pointers, but the guard got hardly any more help as Drake held Loyola to just 43% shooting from the field.

they were able to keep things close by making 21 of 26 from the free-throw line, but that effort quickly subdued after a rough patch shooting the ball. They even missed 15 three-point attempts, which could have swayed the difference a whole lot more if somebody else on that team made more than four threes outside of Williamson.

We're getting to the nitty-gritty when it comes to Loyola and whether or not another final four appearances in the works remains to be seen, but it's hard not to like what Loyola has done to this point and we truly expect them to make a deep run for the conference championship.

On the other hand, as we already discussed with Valparaiso and Evansville, the Illinois State Redbirds are in the same conversation as bottom feeders of the MVC.

Illinois State has lost three in a row and eight of nine coming into Monday's matchup against Loyola. The Redbirds most recent game was a 72 to 64 loss to Bradley on Saturday. Before that, Illinois State had lost to the top-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers, but only by two on Tuesday.

Antonio Reeves led the way with 20 points, and that was just about it from the Illinois State perspective on the road. Reeves shot 6 of 14, and no one else did any better. The only other player to take more than ten shots in the game was guard mark freeman, who had 10 points but took ten shots to get there.

Illinois State just is not that good this season and they are in the ballpark with the likes of Indiana State and Evansville. It's a team that does not know how to shoot the ball well clearly they have a problem with defending, and there's just no real leadership as far as who can take the shot that's going to win the game.

Until they get to the point where they are very much capable of making those big-time shots and limiting the turnovers as they fail to do the other day, Illinois State will continue to be just hanging around the bottom of the conference with no real way out.

I don't think you need to overthink this game for longer than 10 minutes. If it takes you 10 minutes let's hope that it actually lasts about two to five. There should be no reason why Loyola should not run away with this game, even considering the fact that they're on the road, Loyola tends to do well away from home. I think the Ramblers will be gambling their way toward a potential NCAA tournament berth and it's only a matter of time before sister Jean gets out of her chair and starts doing the dance to make sure that everybody understands that Loyola is on the way. Loyola by 15

Loyola is 37-32 ATS as a favorite in its last 69 games.

Loyola is 6-1 ATS after failing to cover five or six of the last seven against the spread.

Illinois State is 2-11 ATS when playing their second game in three days.

PG: Braden Norris

SG: Tate Hall

SF: Lucas Williamson

PF: Aher Uguak

C: Chris Knight

PG: Josiah Strong

SG: Antonio Reeves

SF: Howard Fleming

PF: Kendall Lewis

C: Liam McChesney

Points: Lucas Williamson -- 14.0

Rebounds: Lucas Williamson -- 4.7

Assists: Braden Norris -- 4.2

Points: Antonio Reeves -- 20.1

Rebounds: Sy Chatman -- 6.1

Assists: Mark Freeman -- 3.5