Loyola achieves top men’s basketball ranking in program history at No. 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Loyola Wolf Pack men’s basketball team continues to receive high praise in the early portion of the 2021-22 season, moving up three spots in Wednesday’s NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll to a program-best No. 2. It’s the 16th consecutive poll Loyola has been ranked, too, and the team picked up 560 total votes and two first-place votes in the new poll.

Loyola has gone 3-0 since its No. 5 preseason ranking came out in October, defeating Dillard, No. 6 LSU Shreveport and Spring Hill College to improve its record to 5-0. The team also took down NCAA Division I New Orleans in an exhibition matchup to highlight the season so far.

The Wolf Pack started a stretch of six games away from New Orleans in nine days Tuesday, defeating Spring Hill, 91-66. The preseason favorites to win the Southern States Athletic Conference is set to open league play on Thursday against Middle Georgia State at 5:30 p.m. CST.

Four players have started the first five games of the season by averaging double-digits in scoring, as first-year player Brandon Davis leads the way with 17 points per game, followed by Zach Wrightsil (15.8 ppg), Andrew Fava (13.2) and Myles Burns (10.4). Wrightsil and Burns also lead the way in rebounding with each averaging 7.2 per game, while Davis has a team-high 3.6 assists per game.

Loyola is the highest SSAC team ranked, but it’s joined in the Top 25 by conference foes Talladega (No. 7) and Stillman College (No. 15). The Pack will play both teams twice, starting with a Saturday, Jan. 8 matchup with the Tornadoes on the road and a home contest with the Tigers on Thursday, Jan. 13.

You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.