GAME NOTES: Cross-town rivals will collide on Saturday, as the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers face the Illinois-Chicago Flames in non-conference action at UIC Pavilion.

Loyola is making the short trip to face UIC after suffering an 83-70 loss at home against Tulane on Wednesday night. The loss ended a modest two-game win streak for the Ramblers, who are 4-2 overall, including a 2-1 mark in road contests. They will begin a three-game homestand next, with the first opponent being Jackson State.

UIC has not been as fortunate, with only two wins in its first eight games. The Flames were set down by Grand Canyon on Tuesday, 66-61, to kick off a four-game homestand, which continues against UCF next Thursday. They have lost five of their last six games.

When these teams met last season, Loyola pulled out a 73-70 victory. It was the third win in the last four matchups for the Ramblers, although each of those and each of the last seven overall have been decided by single digits. The Flames lead the all-time series, 30-22.

Even though the Ramblers were the home team against Tulane, the Green Wave seemed to have all the advantages. Loyola allowed its guests to shoot 52.8 percent from the floor, while sinking 48.1 percent of its own shots. The Ramblers also suffered a 37-22 deficit on the boards, while being outscored, in the paint (44-28), on second-chance points (21-4) and off of turnovers (17-5). Milton Doyle scored 15 points for the Ramblers, but he turned the ball over five times as well.

Doyle (16.3 ppg, 4.3 apg, 1.7 spg) leads the Ramblers in scoring, assists and steals, while connecting on an impressive 56.6 percent of his shots from the floor. Christian Thomas (13.3 ppg) is converting better than 55 percent of his field goal tries as well. He added 13 points on 5-of-11 from the field against the Green Wave. The problem is there are very few consistent scoring threats outside of those two. Montel James (8.5 ppg) is third on the team, but he had only seven points last time out.

Despite the efforts of Jay Harris (17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) and Jake Wiegand (12 points, 10 rebounds), UIC fell short against visiting Grand Canyon. The Flames only made 34.5 percent of their total shots, while being outscored, 21-9, from beyond the arc. They did win the rebounding battle (39-32).

Obviously, there have been many weak points for the Flames, but putting together strong shooting nights has been one of the weakest. They are only making 36.9 percent of their field goal attempts, resulting in a meager scoring average (63.1 ppg). Wiegand (15.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Harris (14.8 ppg) are the two primary scorers, with Wiegand leading the team in rebounds as well. The rest of the roster is devoid of many real productive offensive threats, with Marc Brown (6.8 ppg) third in scoring average.

Neither of these teams is particularly deep, with both relying on two players to come up with the bulk of their points. Loyola has gotten some stronger play from players not named Doyle and Thomas, and that will be the difference.