GAME NOTES: The Loyola-Chicago Ramblers are set to host Tulane in a non- conference matchup on Wednesday night inside Gentile Arena

This will be the first game Tulane plays outside of New Orleans this season after the team hosted the Tulane Tournament. The Green Wave wrapped up the event with a 73-68 win over Tennessee Tech on Sunday. It was their fifth straight win since suffering a season-opening loss to Wake Forest.

Loyola enters this contest seeking a third consecutive victory. The Ramblers rebounded from their lone loss -- at Michigan State on Nov. 21 -- with back- to-back road wins over Texas-San Antonio (71-57) and Kent State (69-61) last week.

Tulane holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series, and that includes a 65-59 victory over Loyola last November in New Orleans.

The Green Wave found some success early against Tennessee Tech as they shot 63 percent from the floor in the first half and knocked down 4-of-9 3-point attempts. Thanks to that hot start, they built a 12-point lead early in the second half before the Golden Eagles made a late run. Jonathan Stark was the catalyst, finishing with team-highs of 14 points, seven assists and three steals. Louis Dabney contributed 12 points off the bench, while Jay Hook added 11 points and sophomore Ryan Smith scored a career-high 10 to go along with four rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Through six games, Dabney is averaging a team-best 13.2 ppg while Hook (11.8 ppg) and Stark (10.3 ppg) are also averaging double figures.

Loyola is led by Milton Doyle, who is tallying 16.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals per tilt. He has been nearly as effective from the perimeter (11- of-18) as he has from the foul line (18-of-29) so far this season. Christian Thomas (13.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Montel James (8.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg) have also made steady contributions, and each member of that trio is shooting better than 55 percent from the floor. The Ramblers shot a collective 51.1 percent and made good on 7-of-13 3-point tries at Kent State, as they led by as many as 20 late in the first half. Thomas paced four double-digit scorers with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Devon Turk finished with 15 points on the strength of 3-of-4 accuracy from the perimeter.

Both of these teams built up big leads only to sweat out the final outcome in their most recent games. Tulane's early-season success has all come on its home floor, but the Ramblers are typically tough to beat inside Gentile Arena.