Who’s Playing
South Florida Bulls @ Loyola Chi. Ramblers
Current Records: South Florida 5-3, Loyola Chi. 7-0
How To Watch
- When: Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Gentile Arena — Chicago, Illinois
- TV: USA Network
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
What to Know
The South Florida Bulls will face off against the Loyola Chi. Ramblers at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Gentile Arena. The Bulls are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 77.8 points per game this season.
On Tuesday, South Florida narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Stetson 74-72. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bulls.
Among those leading the charge was Jayden Reid, who went 8 for 11 en route to 23 points plus eight assists. That’s the most assists he has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of De’Ante Green, who went 5 for 6 en route to 13 points plus six rebounds.
South Florida was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. The team’s really been improving in that area: they’ve now improved their assist total in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Loyola Chi. had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 76-54 margin over the Eagles. The Ramblers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 22 points or more this season.
Loyola Chi. can attribute much of their success to Des Watson, who went 8 for 12 en route to 24 points plus two steals. Watson is trending in the right direction considering he’s improved his point production for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Francis Nwaokorie, who posted 11 points plus seven rebounds.
South Florida is on a roll lately: they’ve won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. As for Loyola Chi., their win was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-0.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. South Florida hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 77.8 points per game. However, it’s not like Loyola Chi. struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 83.6. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
South Florida beat Loyola Chi. 77-64 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for South Florida since the team won’t have the home-court advantage this time around. We’ll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Series History
South Florida has won both of the games they’ve played against Loyola Chi. in the last 5 years.
- Dec 16, 2023 – South Florida 77 vs. Loyola Chi. 64
- Nov 25, 2019 – South Florida 66 vs. Loyola Chi. 55