BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland men’s basketball will open its 2011-2012 season at Wake Forest and then play at 2011 Final Four participant Kentucky later in the season, Head Coach Jimmy Patsos announced today.
The Greyhounds will take on the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Demon Deacons in Lawrence Joel Coliseum on Friday, November 11, in their first game of the season. The schedule is subject to change, and game time and Loyola television information will be released on LoyolaGreyhounds.com in the next several days.
Just before Christmas, Loyola will play college basketball’s all-time wins leader, Kentucky, in Rupp Arena, on Thursday, December 22. The games against Wake Forest and Kentucky are two of the 10 non-conference games the Greyhounds will play before delving into the heart of their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference slate.
“We have put together a very competitive schedule,” Patsos said. “This is a tough schedule with games that will test us early in our non-conference schedule. We know that playing teams in marquee conferences helps us in recruiting, and it also prepares us for the league.”
Loyola’s first intercollegiate contest will be Thursday, November 3, when it hosts Indiana (Pa.) in an exhibition game at Reitz Arena. Following the Wake Forest tilt, Loyola returns home for its regular-season home opener on Monday, November 14, against Coppin State.
A two-game road trip awaits the Greyhounds from that point. They travel across Baltimore to face UMBC on Thursday, November 17. Loyola will then take a pre-Thanksgiving trip to New England where it will face New Hampshire on Sunday, November 20.
Florida Gulf Coast comes to Reitz Arena on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 27, for Loyola’s final game of the season’s first month.
MAAC action opens a few days later as Loyola hosts Marist on Thursday, December 1. The Greyhounds head to Central New York on Saturday, December 3, to face Siena.
A game in the Nation’s Capital against George Washington on Wednesday, December 7, brings the Greyhounds back into non-conference play.After that contest, they will play at Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday, December 10, before taking an 11-day break for final exams.
The Kentucky game will be the penultimate of 2011, as Loyola closes the year on the road at Bucknell on Wednesday, December 28.
League play dominates the next eight weeks, starting with a three-game homestand against a trio of MAAC opponents. Niagara is first up on that agenda on Monday, January 2, followed by a Thursday, January 5 game versus Manhattan. The Greyhounds close the homestand with a Saturday, January 7 match-up against Canisius.
The Greyhounds’ first roadtrip of 2012 may prove to be one of its most difficult, as they leave Baltimore to face teams that finished first and tied for second in last year’s MAAC standings. Fairfield will host Coach Patsos and his side on Friday, January 13, and Iona greets Loyola on Sunday, January 15.
Loyola returns to Reitz Arena for a pair of games, Thursday, January 19 against Siena, and Sunday, January 22 versus defending MAAC Champion Saint Peter’s, before heading back on the road for two more.
The Greyhounds will make their annual two-game swing to Western New York for games on Friday, January 27 at Niagara and Sunday, January 29 at Canisius.
Loyola returns to Reitz Arena on Friday, February 3, to host Rider before going to Jersey City to play at Saint Peter’s on Super Bowl Sunday, February 5.
The Greyhounds then welcome Iona and Fairfield on Friday, February 10, and Sunday, February 12, respectively, and head to Marist on Wednesday, February 15.
The final home game of the season will take place on either Friday or Saturday, February 17 or 18, when Loyola hosts a BracketBuster game at Reitz Arena. In the past, the Greyhounds have faced the likes of Towson,Drexel, New Hampshire, UC-Davis and Tennessee State in those contests.
Loyola closes the regular-season with three consecutive road games. It visits Marist on Wednesday, February 15, followed by a trip to Rider on Friday, February 24, and Manhattan on Friday, February 26.
The league will host the 2012 MAAC Championships in a new location this year, playing the tournament at the Basketball Hall of Fame and the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. Maac-achusetts begins on Thursday, March 1, and the conference champion will be crowned on Monday, March 5.
Leave a Reply