Loyola beats Mississippi State in first meeting since 1963 NCAA Regional.

Devon Turk scored a career-high 21 points as Loyola beat Mississippi State 59-51 Saturday night.Christian Thomas added 16 points for the Ramblers (7-3), who have won five of their last six games and equaled their win total from last season. Loyola put the game out of reach with a 17-3 run to close the first half and take a 34-20 lead.Fred Thomas had 14 points for Mississippi State (3-6), which shot just 37.5 percent from the field.The game marked the first meeting between the teams since they played a historic game in the 1963 NCAA tournament that helped change race relations on the basketball court. The all-white Bulldogs had to sneak out of Mississippi to avoid an injunction in order to play Loyola, which had four African-American starters, in the NCAA Regional in East Lansing, Mich. Players from the 1963 teams were honored at halftime.The 1963 Ramblers are the only Division One team from the State of Illinois to win a National Title.