Final Stats | Postgame Comments (Audio)

Cedar Falls, Iowa - Loyola whittled an 18-point deficit down to seven but it was not enough as the Ramblers dropped a 67-58 decision to No. 23 Northern Iowa this afternoon at the McLeod Center. The loss snaps Loyola's seven-game winning streak and drops the Ramblers to 11-3 (1-1 Valley). UNI improves to 12-2 (1-1) with the win.

Milton Doyle got off to a hot start, scoring six of LU's first nine points as the teams were tied after five minutes. The Panthers scored the next six to move in front but the visitors hung tough. Two free throws from Devon Turk cut the deficit to two but UNI opened up an eight-point lead later on a Jeremy Morgan basket. Doyle answered with a three-pointer to keep the Ramblers within striking distance and baskets from Montel James and Christian Thomas to close the half, Thomas' just before the buzzer, sent LU to the locker room down by just four, 32-28. Loyola shot 59% in the opening 20 minutes but were guilty of 12 turnovers.

UNI's Deon Mitchell took over in the early stages of the second half, scoring the first seven points to give the Panthers a double-digit lead. An Earl Peterson triple got the Ramblers on the board and Jay Knuth followed with a basket to make it a six-point game again. Loyola's deficit fluctuated between eight and 10 points over the next five minutes before a critical sequence. Knuth knocked down a trey to make it a 50-41 game at the 10:09 mark. After a defensive stop, Turk saw his three-pointer go halfway down before spinning out and UNI's Matt Bohannon knocked down a three at the other end to complete a six-point swing.

That shot sparked a 9-0 Panther run that gave them their largest lead of the day, 59-41, at the 5:31 mark. Loyola did not quit, using a Thomas basket and three consecutive three-pointers, two from Knuth and one from Turk, to get the deficit down to seven with 2:30 left. UNI missed the front-end of two straight one-and-ones but Loyola could not capitalize on the other end and the home team was able to see out the victory.

Doyle finished with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting to lead the Ramblers. He was joined in double figures by Knuth, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half, and Turk (11 points). Morgan led UNI with 18 points.

Loyola looks to get back on the winning track on Wednesday (Jan. 7) with a 7 p.m. game at Evansville. That game will be televised live over Comcast SportsNet Chicago.