No. 15 Wichita State was facing a tough challenge from Loyola, and then the second half started.Tekele Cotton scored all but two of his 16 points and hit four 3-pointers over the final 20 minutes, and the Shockers pulled away for a 67-53 victory over the Ramblers on Sunday.Ron Baker scored 15. Fred VanVleet hit all five of his shots in a 14-point effort and matched a career-high with 10 assists.The Shockers (14-2, 4-0 Missouri Valley Conference) took control in the second half, outscoring the Ramblers (12-4, 2-2) 44-25 after trailing by five at the break to pick up their 22nd straight league win.
”I think we’re starting to click a little bit more now,” VanVleet said. ”Guys usually start hitting their stride around this time. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Earl Peterson led Loyola with 13 points and Devon Turk scored 11. The emerging Ramblers hit 10 of 18 3-pointers but simply came up short against the league’s powerhouse.Loyola has already eclipsed last season’s win total of 10 and is threatening to reach the postseason for the first time in three decades. A win over Wichita State certainly would have strengthened its case, but the Shockers wasted no time taking the lead in the second half.
”There’s never been a team that understands 40 minutes more than them,” Loyola coach Porter Moser said. ”They had no panic in them at all.”
Wichita State opened the second half on an 18-3 run, scoring the first 10 points to wipe out a 28-23 deficit.Back-to-back 3-pointers by Cotton made it 33-28, and a fast-break layup by VanVleet after he stole the inbounds put the lead at 41-31 with about 12:30 left.It stayed in that range until the closing minutes.Peterson banked in a half-court heave at the shot-clock buzzer to pull Loyola to 53-45 with just over 4 minutes left. But Cotton hit back-to-back 3s to start a 10-2 run for Wichita State.Loyola had the near-capacity crowd rocking thanks to a 10-point run over the final 2:36 of the first half that turned a five-point deficit into a five-point lead.Milton Doyle drove for a three-point play to start the spurt and followed that with a spin around Darius Carter for a neat layup.Peterson added a 3-pointer. And with the crowd chanting ”L-U-C!” he nailed a jumper off the dribble in the closing seconds to send the Ramblers to the locker room with a five-point lead.