BALTIMORE — The bus backs up to the Royal Farms Arena loading dock entrance at 9:35 a.m., and Porter Moser is the second to leave it. He never breaks stride as he heads into the nearly 60-year-old building stationed a few blocks from the city’s Inner Harbor. After a hiccup-quick spin by his team’s locker room for the day, the Loyola basketball coach makes his way to the scorer’s table. He sets down two yellow legal pads and opens a laptop to review film clips, biding his time.



He didn’t know what to expect from the venue, but he deems it pretty cool, ultimately. It’s old, yes. Replicas of vintage concert posters hang on the sterile white brick hallway walls, letting visitors know that, once upon a time, in this very spot, you could see the Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan for as little as $1.75. As it happens, Loyola is one of the main attractions today, with a meaningful afternoon game against 23rd-ranked Maryland. Not 10 minutes after arrival,...