Eastern’s men’s basketball will look to do something tonight it hasn’t done since 1998: Start off the year with a 2-0 record.

But the Panthers won’t face an NAIA school tonight like they did in their season-opening 85-63 win Saturday night against Harris-Stowe.

Instead, the Panthers (1-0) play a team that is in the upper echelon in the Horizon League when Loyola of Chicago visits for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Lantz Arena.

The two teams met last year in the Bracket Buster event in Chicago, and Loyola easily beat the Panthers 66-43.

Rebounding problems in the first half of last year’s game plagued Eastern. Loyola had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half to go into halftime with a 33-13 lead.

“We were disappointed in how we performed there,” said Eastern head coach Mike Miller. “I just didn’t think we were as competitive as what we needed to be.”

Sophomore forward Justin Brock said the Panthers need to show more tenacity this year against Loyola. The Panthers ended practice Monday with a drill focused solely on rebounding. The basket had a lid on it, and the Panthers used it for rebounding drills.

“It seemed like every time we got one hand on the ball, they were getting two hands on it,” Brock said.

But when the two teams meet this year, Eastern will be the team with more experience. Loyola, coming off a 73-57 win against Division II LeMoyne in its season opener Saturday, has had to replace four starters from last year’s team that finished 21-11. The Ramblers (1-0) lost by one point in overtime to Butler in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals.

The Panthers have all five starters back from last year,

“We know that we have to be ready,” said Loyola assistant coach Shay Boyle. “They have a veteran squad. (It’s) not going to be a game like last year where we played well defensively. We have to defend for 25 to 30 seconds every possession.”

The lone returning starter for Loyola is 6-foot-1, 180-pound J.R. Blount. The junior guard scored 21 points in Loyola’s win against LeMoyne, using his driving ability and athleticism to make 9-of-10 free throws.

Another player Miller will have to contend with is 6-8, 210-pound forward Ross Forman. The sophomore transfer from Wyoming scored 19 points and added five rebounds Saturday.

“I think our guys who are filling those roles are very anxious to prove that they can play, too,” Boyle said. “We have other guys that are itching to get this thing officially started.”

One Eastern player that Loyola is well aware of is sophomore guard Romain Martin, Boyle said. The sophomore guard scored 23 points against the Ramblers last year.

But senior forward Bobby Catchings helped ease the scoring burden off Martin’s shoulders with a 27-point effort against Harris-Stowe. Martin finished with 14 points after a slow shooting start in the first half.

Martin said the game against Harris-Stowe showed he cannot expect to be the Panthers lone offensive threat this year because “they knew where I was at all times.”

Miller said he’s not placing too much emphasis for the rest of the year, but said it depends on how Eastern plays tonight.

Still, tonight’s game looms large for the rest of the non-conference schedule. After tonight’s home game, the Panthers are on the road for their next five games.

“I think if (you’re) in your first couple of games, you play really well. I think what it means is you played well that night,” Miller said. “Regardless of how you play early in the year, you still have a lot of work to do.”

Junior guard Mark Robinson looks for an open pass Saturday in Lantz Arena against Harris-Stowe. The Panthers host Loyola of Chicago at 7 tonight.

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