RAMBLERS’ HOME WINNING STREAK AT 21
Marquise Kennedy scored 16 points, and No. 21 Loyola hung on to beat Southern Illinois 60-52 on Friday night at Gentile Arena, extending the nation’s fifth-longest active home winning streak to 21 games.
The Ramblers (20-4, 15-2 Missouri Valley Conference) steadied themselves in the closing minutes after letting a 16-point lead shrink to four and came out on top for the 13th time in 14 games. They also reached 20 wins for the fourth consecutive year, a streak that started when the 2017-18 team went 32-6 and made the Final Four.
Braden Norris scored 13 points and made three three-pointers. Cameron Krutwig added 11 points, six rebounds and four blocks as the Ramblers tied the school record for conference victories.
Steven Verplancken had 17 points to lead the Salukis (11-12, 5-12), who lost their 14th in a row against ranked opponents.
Loyola was rolling along with a 41-25 lead early in the second half, only to see things tighten down the stretch.
Verplancken cut it to 45-41 with 5:19 remaining when he made a three-pointer. But the Ramblers’ Norris bumped it to 50-41 when he made one of his own from beyond the arc.
Kennedy hit two free throws with 1:15 remaining to make it 52-44 and stole the ball from Lance Jones, leading to a layup for Jacob Hutson, bumping the lead to 10 with 44 seconds to play.
Loyola had eight steals in the first half and held Southern Illinois scoreless for nine minutes while building a 29-20 lead.
Purdue 73, Penn State 52
Sasha Stefanovic scored 16 points, Jaden Ivey added 14 points and the Boilermakers cruised past the host Nittany Lions.
The freshman Ivey had a season-high four blocks for the Boilermakers (16-8, 11-6 Big Ten), who won their ninth in the last 12 and tied No. 9 Iowa for fourth place in the Big Ten standings.
Purdue pulled away to a 41-26 lead at halftime with four runs of at least seven consecutive points. It went on a 15-2 run in the second half to push the lead into double digits for good.
Myreon Jones had 11 points to lead the Nittany Lions (8-13, 5-12).
Northern Iowa 70, Illinois State 56
Dusan Mahorcic had a game-high 18 points along with eight rebounds in the Redbirds’ loss to the Panthers in Normal.
Antonio Reeves added 10 points for the Redbirds (7-16, 4-13 MVC), who shot 40% from the field. Trae Berhow led four Panthers (8-15, 6-11) in double figures with 15 points.