Box Score | Postgame Comments | Highlights

CHICAGO - After a one-week break for final exams, Loyola used a game-high 21 points from Earl Peterson to earn a 58-46 in over Jackson State tonight at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers improve to 6-2 on the season while the Tigers drop to 1-8 with the loss.

Always a difficult game during finals week, Loyola turned the ball over on its first two possessions. A Christian Thomas basket got the Ramblers on the board but the visitors held a two-point lead with six minutes elapsed as Loyola struggled to find its rhythm. Milton Doyle had the last two baskets in an 8-0 run that gave the home side a 15-9 lead but Jackson State would not go away, pulling within a point (19-18) on a Kaven Bernard basket at the 6:57 mark. The Ramblers rattled off the next seven points to build an eight-point advantage and they seemed on the cusp of blowing the game open but the Tigers hung tough and scored the last five points of the half to cut the lead to three, 30-27, at intermission.

The teams traded baskets through the first five minutes of the second half before Loyola assumed control for good. Doyle fed Montel James for a basket and Thomas buried a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to bump the lead to eight. A Donte Ingram put-back and hoops from Peterson and James capped an 11-0 run that gave the Ramblers a commanding 47-33 lead at the 8:47 mark. Loyola held Jackson State without a field goal for 8:53 before Javeres Brent hit a three-pointer but the lead never dipped below 10 the rest of the way.

Loyola finished the game shooting 51% overall from the floor, a total that included a sizzling 67% from inside the arc, while the LU defense limited Jackson State to 39% shooting and forced them into 17 turnovers.

Peterson was terrific, finishing with a season-high 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting (3-5 3FGs), and he knocked down all eight of his free throw attempts to lead the way. He was part of Loyola's bench brigade that accounted for 29 of the team's 58 points. Peterson was joined in double figures by Thomas (13 points) while Doyle finished with eight points, four rebounds and five assists.

Loyola returns to action on Wednesday night (Dec. 17) when it takes on Abilene Christian at 7 p.m. inside Gentile Arena. That game, as well as next Friday's game against Southern Utah, is a part of the Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic, with the Ramblers heading to Las Vegas for two more games on Dec. 22-23.