Detroit Mercy vs Loyola Chicago 11/7/24 Game Information

Loyola Chicago vs Detroit Mercy

Detroit Mercy (1-0) heads over to the Windy City to face Loyola Chicago (1-0) in an early season inter-conference dribble at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers lead the all-time series, 67-56 but have really struggled against the Titans in recent years. This will be the first time the two teams have played since 2012-13. Loyola defeated Chicago State at Home on Monday night, 79-72 but failed to cover ATS (LOY -21.5) while Detroit Mercy dominated Cleary University, 91-52 in a non-lined game. Cleary University is a small, private university located in the Wolverine State with several campuses, the main one in Genoa. With their win in the opener, the Titans actually equaled their win total (1) from all of last season.

Detroit Mercy Looks to Rebound After Nightmare Season

Detroit Mercy (1-31) had the worst SU year of all D1 teams in the 2023-24 NCAA Basketball season, edging out SWAC side Mississippi Valley State (1-30). This year the Titans already have a victory, albeit against a little private school in a game they won by 39. In that opener, Detroit Mercy was led by Orlando Lovejoy (13 points), Stephen Okoro (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Mal Manciel (10 points) who were all in double-digits. Nate Johnson (9 points, 7 rebounds), Legend Geeter (8 points), and Ryan Kalambay (8 points) all also had solid games for the Titans. Last year, Detroit Mercy lost its first 26 games and only registered a victory against lowly IU Indianapolis before losing its last five games of the season. The Titans best player from last season, Jayden Stone (20.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg), transferred to West Virginia. Detroit Mercy lost its first two games last season by 34 points (at Toledo) and 32 points (at Cincinnati).

Detroit Mercy Betting Trends

• Detroit Mercy is 10-0 SU in the last 10 series meetings
• The Titans won just one game last season and finished 1-31
• Detroit Mercy was 11-21 ATS last season
• The Titans are 7-3 ATS in the last 10 series meetings
• The Over is 7-3 in the last 10 series meetings, winning 3 in a row

Loyola Chicago Hopes to Build on Recent Success

Loyola Chicago hasn’t played Detroit Mercy in 11 years, and much has changed for the Ramblers who are now in the A-10 conference and who made the NIT Tournament with a 23-10 record but fell to Land of Lincoln rivals Bradley in the First Round. In the Ramblers opener, Jayden Dawson had 20 points with Justine Moore and Des Watson both adding 14 points. Francis Nwaokorie had 9 rebounds with Watson snagging 8. The last time these two teams played, both called the Horizon League home. Last year, Loyola Chicago had a 7-game win streak and its three biggest wins came against tiny Goshen by 51 (115-64), Eastern Illinois by 34 (89-65), and Harvard by 22 (75-52), all before A-10 conference play tipped off. So asking them to win by 24 points here might be a stretch.

Loyola Chicago Betting Trends

• Loyola Chicago is 3-1 ATS the last 4 series meetings
• The Ramblers haven’t scored more than 75 vs Detroit in the last 10 meetings
• Loyola Chicago went 17-15 ATS last season
• The Ramblers have lost 4 in a row ATS dating back to last season
• The Over is 3-1-1 in Loyola’s last 3 games at Home at Gentile Arena

Hosts Loyola Chicago Should Show No Mercy on Detroit

The point spread in this one is high and there are good reasons why. Early sharp money on the Ramblers drove the line up from an opening (minus) 22, and with Detroit seeing its best player transfer, only able to beat the weakest of the weak (IU Indianapolis, Cleary University) and Loyola Chicago having a much stronger roster, expect the hosts to rush out to an early 10-point lead and then just keep building on it. Comparing Detroit to Chicago State is a bad idea, as the Cougars have improved much the last two seasons while the Titans went south last year. Detroit was 14-18 in the 2022-23 season, so last year’s abysmal 1-31 record shows a decline of epic proportions. Expecting 105-year-old fan Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt and Loyola to show any mercy on visiting Detroit in this scheduling spot is all wishful thinking. Your free NCAA Basketball pick and Detroit Mercy vs Loyola Chicago prediction is for the home team to win by 27 to 30 and to be comfortably up around 15 points at halftime.

Kevin’s Pick: Loyola Chicago -23.5