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CHICAGO - Loyola built a 14-point, first-half lead and answered every Creighton run in the second half to earn a 68-65 win this afternoon at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers improve to 5-3 on the season while the Bluejays own an identical, 5-3 mark after the loss.

Five points from Devon Turk and an alley-oop dunk by Earl Peterson staked the Ramblers to the early lead and Milton Doyle scored five points and fed Julius Rajala for two more in a 9-0 spurt that gave the hosts a 16-7 lead midway through the period. Doyle split a pair of free throws later to bump the lead to double figures for the first time (21-11) and back-to-back three-pointers from Tyson Smith made it a 27-13 lead at the 4:10 mark. A Cole Huff basket slowed LU's momentum and jumpstarted a 12-2 Creighton run that sliced the Ramblers' lead to 29-25 at halftime. Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the half, as Loyola hit at a 34% clip but received 10 points from Doyle and seven from Turk.

A Doyle jumper opened the second half scoring but Creighton pulled to within three on two Maurice Watson free throws at the 17:31 mark. Turk answered with a three-pointer and he buried another one minutes later to cap a 13-5 run that gave the Ramblers a 45-34 advantage with just over 12 minutes to play. The lead was still 11 at the under-eight-minute media timeout before five quick points from Khyri Thomas pulled the Bluejays within six (51-45) with 6:57 to go.

Doyle fed Peterson for another dunk and teams traded baskets over the next three minutes as the LU lead oscillated between six and eight points. Thomas drilled another three-pointer and followed that with a lay-up to make it a 59-56 game at the 2:36 mark. After empty possessions each way, Peterson fed Ben Richardson for a triple that bumped the lead back to six (62-56) with 53 seconds left. Creighton's Toby Hegner answered with a three-ball on the ensuing possession to keep it a one-possession game before CU began to foul.

Doyle hit a pair from the stripe to make it a five-point game and Watson answered with a lay-up on the other end to cut it back to three. Peterson split a pair on the next trip and Geoffrey Groselle scored inside to make it a 65-63 game with 14 seconds to go. A turnover on the inbounds pass resulted in a foul but Thomas missed a pair of free throws. After a review confirmed the rebound went out of bounds off Loyola, Doyle rebounded an Isaiah Zierden missed three-pointer and knocked down two more free throws to make it a four-point game with :03.1 left. A Groselle basket and one more Doyle charity toss closed out the scoring, as Loyola knocked off Creighton for the first time since 1981.

Doyle was outstanding, finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead the Ramblers. Turk posted 15 points in support while Smith (season-high 11 points, 4-6 FGs) and Donte Ingram (10 points) reached double figures off the bench.

Loyola takes a week off for final exams before returning to action next Sunday (Dec. 13) at Notre Dame. Tip-time is slated for 1 p.m. CT.