The Harvard Crimson and the Loyola Ramblers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Gentile Arena. Harvard is sitting at 6-2 on the year after a win over American on Wednesday. As for Loyola, they beat Chicago State in their last matchup which moved the team to 4-3 overall. Let’s get into our Harvard vs. Loyola prediction. 

Harvard Crimson

Harvard kicked off the year with a nice four-game win streak over Massachusetts-Boston, Rice, Northeastern and UMass. The Crimson would lose two of their next three games however, falling to Boston College and Indiana around a win over Colgate. In the loss to the Hoosiers, Harvard gave up 57.1 percent shooting from the field.

The Crimson were able to get back into the win column with their latest outing versus American. After a 42-31 halftime lead, Harvard finished off with a 44-38 second-half deficit in an 80-75 result. Leading the way was Malik Mack with 26 points, and Chisom Okpara added 23 points with six boards.

Loyola Ramblers

Over on the Loyola side, they managed a 3-3 run over their first six games this year. The losses in that time came versus FAU, UIC and Creighton. Otherwise the Ramblers took out Eastern Illinois, New Orleans and Boston College in that stretch. Matched up against the Eagles, Loyola posted a 39-31 rebounding edge and 16 team assists.

Loyola was in trouble at halftime in their latest matchup versus Chicago State. The Ramblers faced a 28-22 deficit going into the second half, but recovered from there with 40 points in a 62-53 comeback win. Jalen Quinn was the top team scorer, coming off the bench for 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.

HARVARD VS LOYOLA PREDICTION

I’ll lean toward a Harvard pick here, but you could make a case either way. The Crimson weren’t super impressive on the boards versus a mediocre American team in their last game, eventually getting out-rebounded 38-24. The shooting was good however (52.8 percent), and it was a much-needed win after a 1-2 stretch.

As for Loyola, they needed a big second half to get past Chicago State in their last matchup. The Ramblers have been pretty choppy on the scoreboard this year, however to be fair they’ve also faced a few tough teams. I like this one to be a competitive matchup, with Harvard eking out a cover in the end. Should be a fun one.