Loyola Fends Off UNI, 54-50

Friday, March 2

St. Louis, Missouri

12 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

7-1116-16; MVC

Loyola

15-326-5; MVC

UNI

Loyola Chicago

Loyola Fends Off UNI, 54-50

3/2/2018 3:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score UNI-Loyola-MBBBoxscore-2018-MVC

BOX SCORE (PDF) | GAME NOTES | UNI QUOTES | LOYOLA QUOTES

ST. LOUIS, Missouri - The No. 1-seeded Loyola Ramblers fended off the No. 9-seeded University of Northern Iowa Panthers in the quarterfinals of the 2018 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, 54-50.

Loyola (26-5 overall) ran its win streak to eight in a row. The Ramblers have won 15 of their last 16 contests. Loyola's Donte Ingram and Marques Townes each tallied 13 points.

UNI (16-16 overall) saw its three-game win streak come to an end as well as the collegiate careers for four seniors - Klint Carlson, Ted Friedman, Bennett Koch and Hunter Rhodes. Koch scored a game-high 20 points as he went 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Rhodes added nine points and assists, while Carlson grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.

The Panthers kept MVC Player of the Year Clayton Custer in check. Custer was limited to two points on 1-of-7 shooting and turned the ball over three times.

The Panthers led by six just after the midway point of the first half at 12-6. UNI's margin was still six at 14-8 after a layup by Koch with 8:17 left in the half. Loyola then used a 12-2 spurt to take a 20-16 lead with 2:27 left before halftime. The Ramblers led 25-21 at the break.

UNI used an 8-0 to take a 37-33 advantage with 11:19 left in the game. The eight-point spurt came via buckets from Tywhon Pickford, a pair from Rhodes and another from Koch.

Loyola would even the matchup at 37-37 on a layup from Townes and jumper from Ben Richardson. Richardson gave the Ramblers the lead for good on a shot-clock beating deep three-pointer with 6:58 left.

An Ingram three-pointer with 3:35 left in the game pushed the Loyola lead to eight at 47-39. The lead remained at eight with under a minute to play when the Panthers whittled it down again. A putback by Carlson pulled the Panthers to within six at 51-45 with :48 remaining. Custer missed the front end of a one-and-one with :39 left and UNI's Wyatt Lohaus buried a three-pointer to cut the lead in half to 51-48 with :30 remaining.

Custer missed another front end of a one-and-one and the Panthers rebounded the miss giving the No. 9 seed a shot at tying the game. Isaiah Brown got a good look from the right wing in front of the Panther bench but it would not fall. Loyola's Lucas Williamson drained a pair of free throws to put the lead back at five. Pickford added a putback with :02 to cut the lead to three. UNI pressured the inbounds pass and looked to create a turnover, but Townes as fouled and he sank the first of two free throws to give the Ramblers the four-point victory, 54-50.

NOTES: Koch recorded his ninth career 20-point scoring games ... UNI is 2-2 against the No. 1 seed in the MVC Tournament ... UNI is 23-21 all-time in the MVC Tournament.