DUBUQUE, Iowa – Playing for the second time in three days, the Loras College men's basketball team heads to Carlinville, Ill. to face the Blackburn College Beavers on Wednesday afternoon inside the Woodward Athletic Center. Tip is set for 1 p.m.

GAME LINK UPDATE
Due to internet outages on Blackburn's campus, live stats and a stream are expected to be unavailable for Wednesday's contest. If internet connection is restored prior to tip, you can find links on the Loras men's basketball schedule, which can be found here.

LAST TIME OUT
The Purple and Gold are winners of the last six-straight and most recently are coming off a 90-72 victory over Lakeland University on Monday evening. Senior guard Ali Sabet led the way offensively for Loras, scoring a game-high 24 points, shooting 9-for-16 from the floor, including 4-for-8 from deep. The Glenview, Ill. native added four assists and three rebounds in 27 minutes of action.

Jackson Molstead scored 17 points going 6-for-9 from the field, while also shooting 50 percent (3-6) from behind the arc. Tyler Bass recorded his third-straight double-double, adding in 10 points and 11 rebounds while going 70 percent (7-10) from the free throw line.

Sophomore forward Jack Haynes rounded out double-digit scorers finishing with 15 points, two rebounds, one block, one steal, and one assist.

Loras opened the game with a quick 12-0 run led by a quick five points from senior Myles Barry. The Muskies rallied to get within three (19-16) with 9:03 to play in the first half, but the Duhawks closed out the frame on a 31-13 run to lead 50-29 at the break. Sabet scored 10, while Molstead scored nine in the second half to pace Loras to the victory.

The Duhawks shot 33-for-63 (52.4 percent) from the floor, including knocking down nine three pointers – making it every game the Purple and Gold have done so thus far this season. Loras also controlled the rebound game, grabbing 41 to Lakeland's 32.

ABOUT THE DUHAWKS
Loras is off to an 8-1 start to the year, the program's best beginning to a season since 2018-19. The Duhawks average the third-most points in the country at 95.4 points per game, while also knocking down the third-most three pointers at 14.8. The team's 84.4 percent free throw percentage is the nation's best, while its rebound margin of 12.9 is the fifth-greatest differential.

Sabet leads the Duhawks in scoring this season with 20.6, followed by Molstead at 15.6. The frontcourt duo of Bass and Haynes average 12.2 and 12.1 points per contest, respectively. Bass pulls in a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game, followed by Barry at 6.2 and Haynes at 5.1.

Haynes is shooting 68.7 percent from the floor, which is the fourth-best mark in the nation. Sabet connects on the third-most threes per game at a rate of 4.1.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Blackburn College enters Wednesday's contest at 4-5 overall, winning two of its last three games. Most recently, the Beavers defeated Eureka College, 79-76, on Dec. 13. The program is undefeated at home thus far, posting a 3-0 record.

As a team, Blackburn averages 64 points per game and shoots 39 percent from the floor, including 30.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Beavers haul in 36.3 rebounds per game, while averaging 9.8 assists. The team has struggled from the free throw line, converting on only 63.8 percent on its attempts from the charity stripe.

Senior guard Izayah Talmadge leads the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game, shooting 41.7 from the field. The only other Beaver in double digits is sophomore guard Darius Duff, who averages 11.2 in 30.4 minutes per game.

Talmadge leads the Beavers in rebounding at a mark of 7.9 boards per game, followed by senior forward Zach Kelsey at 4.9. Talmadge averages 2.2 steals per contest, a mark that sits as the fifth-best in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

THE SERIES
The Duhawks are winners of the last five match ups, with the program's most recent win coming on Dec. 21, 2022, a 90-59 showing. The last game to be played in Carlinville was on Dec. 11, 2021, resulting in a 107-82 Duhawk victory.