Loyola-Chicago Ramblers vs Evansville Purple Aces Match Player Stats On Jan 18, 2022

Lucas Williamson scored 15 points and Chris Knight came off the bench to add 12 Tuesday night as No. 22 Loyola Chicago cruised to a 77-48 win over Evansville in Evansville, Ind.

Playing their first game as a ranked team this season, the Ramblers (14-2, 5-0 Missouri Valley Conference) used their typical consistency and efficiency to dominate after a slow start. They canned 62.3 percent of their field goal attempts while holding the Purple Aces to 32.7 percent shooting.

Juwaun Newton scored 13 points to pace Evansville (4-12, 0-5), while Shamar Givance added 12 and Noah Frederking chipped in 11. The Aces were competitive for a half, but were ultimately undone by Loyola's 35-6 advantage in bench scoring and 32-12 lead in paint points.

Leading 30-24 at halftime, the Ramblers gradually pulled away in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Tate Hall's 3-pointer with 14:02 left in the game pushed the margin to 43-31, starting a game-sealing 11-0 burst.

Williamson and Keith Clemons added 3-pointers to up the advantage to 51-31 with 11:37 remaining. The game's remainder was a race to the final horn that secured Loyola's 10th consecutive win since a Thanksgiving Day loss to Auburn in a tournament in the Bahamas.

Coming off a 32-point loss in its last game on Jan. 12 at Bradley, Evansville came out playing its best basketball. It scored on its first four possessions and took a 13-8 lead to the first TV timeout after Evan Kuhlman drained a 3-pointer.

The Aces managed just 11 points for the half's remainder as the Ramblers locked down on defense, contesting 3-pointers and easily stopping most forays to the goal. They took the lead for good on a 3-point play by Marquise Kennedy with 12:06 left in the half, making it 16-15.

Evansville's defense kept it in the game through the half, though, as Loyola managed just eight points over the final 8:58. But Williamson drilled a long 3-pointer 1:23 before intermission, giving the Ramblers a 30-24 edge at the break.

--Field Level Media