To earn the top seed for next week's Missouri Valley Conference tournament, No. 21 Loyola Chicago needs to continue its homecourt winning streak and then get a little help.

The Ramblers (19-4, 14-2 MVC) welcome Southern Illinois on Friday night for the opener of their final two-game conference series. Loyola is tied with Drake atop the conference, but the Bulldogs own the tiebreaker.

Loyola and Drake split their two-game set, and both teams swept third-place Missouri State. However, the Bulldogs swept fourth-place Indiana State while the Ramblers split their series with the Sycamores.