CHICAGO (February 7, 2021)
 
In Short
Braden Norris scored a team-high 19 points to lead Loyola University Chicago (17-3, 12-1 MVC) to a. 69-58 victory over Evansville (8-10, 6-6 MVC) this afternoon at Gentile Arena for its tenth straight win overall. The Ramblers have now won 19 straight home games dating back to December 2019.
 
Coach Moser's Thoughts
"What I love about our team that is going to help us moving forward is that we've had some games with huge leads and some games where we've had to grind it out to win. I loved how we responded when Evansville made a run."
 
How It Happened
Loyola got off to a slow start, turning the ball over six times in the first eight minutes, to match its miscue total from all of yesterday, but scored nine unanswered points to turn a one-point lead into a 16-6 advantage. Norris had the hot hand early, scoring seven of Loyola's first 16 points.
 
After Evansville closed within six, at 18-12, the Ramblers strung together seven consecutive tallies to run their lead to 25-12, the largest of the game to that point, and wound up taking a 30-17 advantage into halftime.
 
Loyola's defense forced 10 Purple Aces first-half turnovers and held them to 7-for-23 (.304) shooting from the field, including just 3-for-11 (.273) from three-point territory.
 
Cameron Krutwig and Aher Uguak combined for all of Loyola's first six points of the second period as their lead swelled to 36-22, but Evansville countered with an 15-5 spurt to get back within four, at 41-37.
 
Loyola answered right back, running off seven straight points, including a conventional three-point play from Norris, to build its lead back up to double figures, at 48-37, but the Aces proceeded to account for 11 of the game's next 15 points and cut the gap to 52-48 on a three from Noah Frederking with 5:12 remaining.
 
A Cameron Krutwig basket followed by a three from Norris provided some cushion, bumping the lead to 57-48, and minutes later, after Evansville had cut it to 58-52, Keith Clemons buried a clutch trey with 2:06 left to play to cement the outcome.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Norris hit 6 of 9 shots to finish with 19 points, his second-highest output of the year, while Krutwig put up 17 points, six boards, six assists and a pair of steals.
• Uguak picked up his first double-double of the season, tossing in 14 points, while matching a career high with 11 rebounds, and Clemons tallied 11 points as he scored in double digits for the fourth time in the last five games.

 
Up Next
Loyola matches up with Missouri Valley Conference rival and 25^th-ranked Drake for a two-game series in Des Moines on February 13 and 14.