GAME NOTES: The Texas Tech Red Raiders will put an eight-game win streak on the line as they prepare to take on the Loyola Chicago Ramblers Monday night in the opening round of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena.

Texas Tech sports a 9-1 overall record coming into this clash, with the one loss occurring in the team's second contest of the season, 69-64, in an overtime battle against LSU. The Raiders own a 9-0 mark at home, and this contest will be the first neutral-site game they play this season.

Loyola Chicago is off to a hot start as well. The Ramblers are 8-2 heading into the Las Vegas tournament, and have won four games in a row - the most recent of which came against Southern Utah, 73-57.

This meeting between the Red Raiders and Ramblers will be the first-ever on the basketball court.

A big first half for Loyola Chicago pushed the Ramblers out to a halftime lead from which Southern Utah could not recover. The Ramblers went into the intermission leading the Thunderbirds, 38-20, as they were able to coast through the second half to victory. Christian Thomas led the team with 18 points and added eight rebounds in the win, while Montel James (13 points, eight boards) and Devon Turk (13 points) each helped out the cause. Jeff White chipped in with 10 points and six assists for the Ramblers, who shot 43.1 percent from the field in the game.

Loyola Chicago was easily able to down Southern Utah, despite missing leading scorer Milton Doyle (14.6 ppg, 41 total assists). Thomas (13.5 ppg) stepped right into the scorer's role without much hesitation. Loyola is netting 70.2 ppg this season, and is giving up 62.8 ppg to opponents, so this matchup with Texas Tech will feature two strong offenses and two very adept defenses. James comes into the contest as Loyola's leading rebounder at 5.1 boards per outing.

Texas Tech battled Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the team's latest outing, and easily handled the Golden Lions, 72-51. The Raiders used a steady offensive onslaught to burn a one-point Pine Bluff lead early in the game and take command by halftime, as they led 35-26. Justin Gray netted 13 points to pace the team on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor. Devaugntah Williams chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of action. The Texas Tech bench received plenty of work against UAPB, netting 36 points as no starter for the Raiders played more than 24 minutes.

Texas Tech has been a strong offensive team this season, despite the fact that only Williams (11.4 ppg) has a scoring average in the double digits for the Red Raiders. Robert Turner (9.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) is close to reaching the double- figure mark, though he does share a team high-tying rebound per outing average with Zach Smith. Texas Tech is netting 72.4 ppg this season, and is allowing opponents to score a meager 56.3 ppg on 36.5 percent shooting from the floor.

Loyola Chicago may be off to a strong start, but the team has faltered a bit when playing tougher competition. Texas Tech could use that to its advantage, and will try to bury the Ramblers right from the start in an attempt to reach the Las Vegas Classic title game.