Loyola’s Philip Alston slams one home during Tuesday’s NCAA men’s basketball game against SLU at Gentile Arena. (Photo courtesy: Loyola-Chicago Athletics)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLU (8-13, 1-7) | 31 | 31 | 62 |
| Loyola-Chicago (14-7, 6-2) | 36 | 41 | 77 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
CHICAGO, IL — The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team suffered its fifth straight loss, Wednesday night, in a 77-62 defeat to Loyola-Chicago in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Gentile Arena.
The five straight losses is the most in a row Saint Louis has had in head coach Travis Ford’s tenure leading the program.
The Billikens are now 8-13 on the season and 1-7 in league play. Loyola raised its record to 14-7 and 6-2 in the A-10.
“Obviously everyone’s frustrated, but they seem to be ready to compete,” Ford said. “You saw at the start they were playing hard and we took the lead. So, I think they’re really competing.”
SLU trailed 36-31 at halftime and scored the first points of the second half to pull within three, but Loyola went on a 20-7 run over the next six minutes to go ahead 56-40 with 13:30 left in the game.
Then, after the Billikens scored the next three baskets to back within 10, the Ramblers went on a 9-2 run to build their biggest lead of the night at 65-48 with 9:17 to go. From that point on, SLU never got closer than 12 points, before eventually losing by 15.
“I thought in the halfcourt, when we set up our defense, it was really good,” Ford said. “It was us taking a lot of difficult shots that led to their and-ones. But the defense when it was set up was pretty good for where it’s been.”
A key component in Loyola building its big lead was the Ramblers kept drawing fouls and three-point plays against the Billikens. In one stretch, Loyola picked up five made baskets, plus the foul calls. SLU just didn’t seem capable of defending the Ramblers without fouling them.
“Most of those were in transition after we probably took a difficult shot,” Ford said. “If I had to guess, it was where a guy fell down or was put out of position, and they had five on four or five on three. They had numbers based on difficult shots we took.”
Gibson Jimerson led Saint Louis with 16 points and nine rebounds. The Billikens also got a strong contribution off the bench from junior Sincere Parker, who had 14 points, and freshman Cian Medley, who had 11 points.
Saint Louis will be back home on Saturday, when it will take on Fordham at Chaifetz Arena. Tip off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., with the game being televised nationally on the USA Network.
Saint Louis University 62
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Jimerson,Gibson | * | 38 | 5-12 | 1-2 | 5-7 | 5-4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| 22 | Hargrove Jr.,Terrence | * | 22 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 03 | Ezewiro,Bradley | * | 20 | 2-10 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 2-3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 02 | Hughes II,Larry | * | 22 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 07 | Meadows,Mike | * | 18 | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | Parker,Sincere | 20 | 6-12 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0-6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |
| 01 | Medley,Cian | 22 | 3-7 | 0-2 | 5-6 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| 12 | Zhang,Bruce | 13 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 15 | van Bussel,Stef | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 53 | Thames,Kellen | 20 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 20-56 | 2-14 | 20-28 | 9-23 | 32 | 23 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 62 |
Loyola-Chicago 77
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | Watson,Des | * | 37 | 7-15 | 4-7 | 2-3 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| 04 | Norris,Braden | * | 39 | 4-7 | 3-6 | 5-5 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 23 | Alston,Philip | * | 21 | 3-11 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 3-2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 | Edwards,Sheldon | * | 12 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 24 | Rubin,Miles | * | 20 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Dolan,Greg | 28 | 4-7 | 1-3 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
| 02 | Quinn,Jalen | 16 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 10 | Welch,Tom | 11 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 32 | Adelekun,Dame | 9 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 30 | Mwamba,Patrick | 7 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 26-55 | 9-23 | 16-19 | 4-28 | 32 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 77 |
2023-24 SLU Billikens Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Gametime | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 3, 2024 (Saturday) | 1:30 pm | Home | Fordham | Chaifetz Arena | USA Network | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 7, 2024 (Wednesday) | 5:30 pm | Away | La Salle | Philadelphia, Pa. (Gola Arena) | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 10, 2024 (Saturday) | 11:30 am | Away | Saint Joseph’s | Philadelphia, Pa. (Hagan Arena) | USA Network | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 16, 2024 (Friday) | 6 pm | Home | VCU | Chaifetz Arena | ESPN2 | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 20, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 pm | Away | Duquesne | Pittsburgh, Pa. (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse) | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 24, 2024 (Saturday) | 2 pm | Home | George Washington | Chaifetz Arena | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 28, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Home | Richmond | Chaifetz Arena | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 pm | Away | Rhode Island | Kingston, R.I. (Ryan Center) | CBSSN | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 5, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Home | Dayton | Chaifetz Arena | CBSSN | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 9, 2024 (Saturday) | 11:30 am | Away | St. Bonaventure | St. Bonaventure, N.Y. (Reilly Center) | USA Network | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 12-17 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament | TBA | Neutral | TBA | Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclay’s Center) |