CHICAGO, Ill. (January 10, 2023)
 
In Short…
Loyola University Chicago (6-10, 0-4 A-10) was unable to overcome 22 turnovers Tuesday (Jan. 10) evening as the Ramblers fell to VCU (11-5, 2-1) by a 78-64 margin inside Gentile Arena.
 
Tom Welch tied for the game high with a season-high 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting while adding seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. He was 1-of-3 Ramblers in double figures, with Philip Alston scoring 15, all coming in the second half, while Braden Norris chipped in 14 points and four assists.
 
How It Happened
Loyola jumped out to an early 8-5 lead at the first media timeout thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Braden Norris and Jeameril Wilson. Marquise Kennedy got in on the 3-point barrage, knocking down a corner triple out of the timeout before Tom Welch converted in the paint to push the lead to 13-5 in the early going.
 
Loyola's defense kept the clamps on the VCU attack in the early going, as 30% shooting by the Rams allowed the Ramblers to build a 18-9 lead at the under-12 media timeout following Ben Schwieger's 3-point play.
 
The Rams battled back, using a 6-0 run to even things up at 20-all before Norris knocked down Loyola's fourth triple of the half to push the lead to three with 7:29 remaining in the first half.
 
Offenses for both sides began to fire on all cylinders down the stretch. Loyola had a stretch of 4-for-5 shooting for the field, only to be outdone by VCU's 7-of-9 stretch to put the visitors in front by a 31-28 margin with 3:30 left in the first half.
 
Despite shooting 60% from the field in the first half, Loyola found themselves in a 3-point hole at 35-32 thanks largely to VCU outscoring the Ramblers 12-4 from the free throw line. Norris and Welch led the way for Loyola in the opening half with 10 points apiece.
 
Loyola immediately pulled level with a Kennedy 3-pointer, Loyola's fifth of the game, to open the second half before VCU responded with six unanswered over 1:12 of game action to force a Rambler timeout with 16:11 remaining in the game. The run would grow to 10-0 in favor of the Rams until Welch put an end to it with a layup.
 
The bucket wasn't enough to stop the VCU attack, as the Rams would go on to score eight of the next 10 points to jump ahead by a 53-39 margin at the under-12 timeout. VCU's lead would balloon to as many as 20 points in the second half and Loyola was unable to significantly cut into the deficit in the closing minutes of the game.
 
Inside The Box Score

• Tuesday marked the seventh double-figure game of the season for Welch, who surpassed his previous season-high of 15, set in Loyola's season opener. Welch fell two points shy of his career-high of 18, set at Indiana State on Jan. 10, 2021.
• Ben Schwieger set a new career-high with four assists. Norris also added four assists and just one turnover, giving the senior 15 assists and just one turnover in his last three games.
• Marquise Kennedy and Jeameril Wilson had three steals each in the contest.
• The 22 turnovers are tied for the second-most committed by Loyola this season. The 22 turnovers turned into 31 points for VCU while Loyola only scored 10 points off the Rams' miscues.

 
Up Next
Loyola heads back out east for a Saturday (Jan. 14) contest at St. Joseph's. Tip-off in Philadelphia is set for 11:30 a.m. (CT) on USA.