Kent State University
Loyola (Ill.)
Kent State will travel to Loyola University Chicago on Feb. 23 for the final BracketBuster weekend
2/4/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Kent State will travel to Loyola University Chicago on Feb. 23 as part of the final BracketBusters weekend.
The tip at Loyola's Gentile Arena is set for 3 p.m CST.
The Golden Flashes are 6-4 all-time in BracketBusters games and one of only 10 programs to have participated in the event in every year since its inception in 2003.
Loyola of Chicago is 5-4 in BracketBusters, including a 66-54 win at Bradley last year. The Ramblers also own BracketBuster wins over William & Mary (2008), Eastern Illinois (2007), Fairfield (2006) and Evansville (2004). Their losses in the event have come against Saint Peter's (2011), Creighton (2010), Bradley (2009), and Illinois State (2004).
Kent State lost 80-73 to the College of Charleston in last year's BracketBuster.
This year's game will be the fifth meeting between Kent State and Loyola. The Ramblers own a 1-3 advantage in the series, including a 74-59 win over the Golden Flashes in Chicago on Nov. 30, 1996 in their last encounter.
The trip to Chicago will reunite Rob Senderoff and his coaching staff with Loyola assistant coach Armon Gates, who is a 2006 graduate of Kent State and a former Golden Flashes starting guard. Gates also served as an assistant coach at Kent State for two seasons from 2008-10. Gates either played or coached at Kent State with every member of the Golden Flashes' current coaching staff.
Loyola is currently 13-9 overall with a 3-6 record mark in the Horizon league. Senior forward Ben Averkamp leads the Ramblers in both scoring (15.6 per game) and rebounding (6.7). Sophomore guard-forward Christian Thomas adds 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
