CHICAGO, Ill. (February 8, 2023)
 
In Short…
Despite a career-high 25 points by Braden Norris, the Loyola Ramblers dropped an 83-71 decision to Saint Joseph's Wednesday evening inside Gentile Arena.
 
Norris' 25 points came on 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range, matching his career-high in made 3-pointers, while finishing 8-for-11 on the night from the field. Ben Schwieger filled the stat sheet once again with 13 points, six rebounds and a game-high four assists while Philip Alston fell a point shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-leading 13 rebounds.
 
The Ramblers and Saint Joseph's were tied at 71-all with just over three and a half minutes to play, but the Hawks would go on to score the final 12 points to slip past Loyola.
 
How It Happened
With the two teams battling in the early going, Jeameril Wilson threw down a dunk with 13:27 left in the opening half to give the Ramblers a slim 10-8 lead. The bucket gave Wilson exactly 1,000 career points, becoming the third Loyola player this year to reach the 1,000-point mark.
 
A Jalen Quinn triple to beat the shot clock gave the Ramblers a 25-21 lead with 8:13 to play, the largest lead of the game by either team.
 
The back-and-forth battle would continue for the remainder of the half, with Saint Joseph's eventually pulling in front and taking a 41-39 lead into the break despite Loyola outshooting the Hawks from the floor, 53.8%-46.9%. Norris was rolling early, leading the Ramblers with a team-high 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting with three triples.
 
Loyola came out of the break outscoring Saint Joseph's 11-6 over the first segment of action to regain the lead at 50-47. The Ramblers were firing on all cylinders to start the second half, shooting 62.5% from the floor while holding Saint Joseph's to just 2-for-10 shooting.
 
After the Hawks briefly regained the lead, Loyola would push the advantage back to three following Norris' fifth long ball of the game to give the redshirt senior 17 points in the contest. Saint Joseph's responded right back with a 9-0 run over 2:41 to build its largest lead of the game at 62-56 to force a Loyola timeout with 8:25 to play.
 
This time it was Norris' turn to take over as his two three-pointers served as bookends to a Ben Schwieger layup for an 8-0 Loyola run in just over a minute to put the Ramblers back in front, 64-62.
 
With the score tied at 71-all with 3:38 to play, Saint Joseph's would score the final 12 points of the game to pull away late and secure the victory.
 
Inside The Box Score

• Wilson became the third Rambler this year to reach 1,000 career points, joining Alston and Norris.
• Norris set a new career-high with 25 points, surpassing his previous career-best of 23 which he scored on two occasions. The redshirt senior hit seven 3-pointers and eight field goals in total Wednesday to match his career-high in 3-point field goals and total field goals in a single game.
• Alston matched his season-high with a game-leading 11 rebounds, the third time this season Alston has finished with 11 boards.
• All nine players who saw time Wednesday for Loyola scored at least one point, while eight of the nine Ramblers recorded at least one assist.

 
Up Next
Loyola hits the road for a two-game trip out east, beginning Saturday, Feb. 11 at Richmond. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU.