League-leading Loyola (19-5, 9-3 MVC) shot 61 percent from the field and out-rebounded visiting Missouri State by 11 en route to a 97-75 victory over the Bears here Saturday afternoon in Missouri Valley Conference action at Gentile Arena.
The Ramblers had six players score in double figures, including Clayton Custer who produced a game-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting with 6 assists.
MSU (15-10, 5-7 MVC), which shot 51 percent for the game, had four players score in double figures. Freshman Mustafa Lawrence drained five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points in his first-ever start and was second only to Custer in field goals made on the afternoon with seven. Lawrence also snagged three steals in a 33-minute outing.
The Bears trailed by nine at the midway point, but Loyola came out for the second half throwing haymakers with six field goals before the first media timeout. The Ramblers made their first five shots of the second period and built a 66-49 lead with 16:17 remaining.
It took nearly six minutes, but Missouri State was able to whittle its deficit back to 10 with 10:23 to go after a 3-pointer from Rhodes capped an 11-4 Bears’ outburst that made it a 72-62 contest.
But Missouri State would score just four more field goals the remainder of the afternoon, and the Ramblers never took their foot off the gas. LUC would lead by as many as 25 from there, and sent the Bears home with their fifth straight loss.
It was just the third 50-percent shooting effort this season for MSU – its first in conference play – with the Bears dropping in nine 3-pointers, their third-best output from beyond the arc on the year.
Alize Johnson finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists before leaving the game late in the second half on a hard Loyola foul. J.T. Miller tallied 15 points in his return to the starting rotation, and Jarrid Rhodes contributed 11 points.
MSU finished 27-of-53 (.509) from the field, 9-of-21 (.429) from long range and 12-of-16 (.750) from foul line. The Bears committed 12 turnovers, but dished out 14 assists.
Loyola out-rebounded the Bears, 33-22, and padded its lead by producing 14 second-chance points off eight offensive caroms. The Ramblers were 39-of-64 (.609) overall, 10-of-20 (.500) from downtown and 9-of-11 (.818) from the stripe in an offensive explosion.
Both teams came out smoking from the jump with Missouri State making 68 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes and Loyola firing at a 64.5 percent clip. The first-half difference was opportunities, which Loyola took full advantage of with eight second-chance points to push the Ramblers ahead 52-43 at the midway point.
With so few misses in the first half, the Bears went into the intermission with just eight rebounds as a team, compared to 13 by Loyola.
Lawrence drained five first-half 3-pointers and took 17 points into the locker room at the game’s midway point.
Missouri State concludes its two-game MVC road swing Tuesday when the Bears battle Indiana State at 6 p.m. on FOX Sports Midwest and the MVC
MSU returns home on Saturday, February 10 to take on Evansville at 2 p.m. on Athletics Hall of Fame weekend at JQH Arena.
