TULSA – Jayden Dawson's career and game-high 26 points came up short for Loyola Chicago at Tulsa Tuesday night. The Hurricane used an uncharacteristic night from three-point range to outlast the Ramblers, 88-77. Dawson finished 8-of-11 from three-point range to tie the program's single-game record.
 
Joining Dawson in double-figures was Braden Norris (11 points), Philip Alston (11 points), and Des Watson (10 points).
 
With the loss, Loyola falls to 5-4 overall.
 
"We came out way too flat," said head coach Drew Valentine. "I thought in the first half we did a poor job playing with the intensity and grit that you need to play with on the road to win. But we will be better. We had a bunch of different guys step up at times and make some plays that were necessary and needed. We've put ourselves in a position with a tough schedule that will test us and get us prepared and ready to go for conference play."
 
How It Happened
The Ramblers got off to a slow start in Tulsa as the Hurricane scored seven unanswered points to open the game. Greg Dolan drove in for Loyola's first points of the half, while Philip Alston drained a three-pointer minutes later to trail 10-5. Tulsa gained a double-digit lead at the 14:26 mark with help from Tyshawn Archie, and by the 12-minute media timeout, the Hurricane held a 26-17 edge.
 
Tulsa held Loyola off until Jayden Dawson started to heat up from deep. He connected on three from the arc in a two-minute stretch cutting the lead to just two with 1:30 left in the half. Isaiah Barnes put some space back between the teams late, but Jalen Quinn converted at the line in the final seconds, and Tulsa led 42-39 at the break.
 
The Hurricane's hot shooting continued into the second-half quickly building the lead back to double-digits following a pair of threes from Barnes. By the seven-minute mark, Tulsa had its largest lead at 19 on a made jumper from PJ Haggerty.
 
Dawson shot the Ramblers back into the game scoring Loyola's next 12 points on four triples. During that stretch, Loyola held Tulsa without a made field goal for over three-minutes. Dawson's final three with 2:21 to play cut the lead to 10, but the Ramblers couldn't get any closer. Tulsa won, 88-77.
 
Inside the Box Score
- Dawson notched his first career 20+ point performance and is the fourth Rambler to score at least 20 points in a game this season.
- Dawson is tied with four other Ramblers for the single-game three-pointers made record. He's the first to connect on eight made threes since the 2010 season.
- Watson is on a three-game double-figure scoring streak. He's up to seven total games this season with at least 10 points.
- This marks the first time this season four Ramblers have scored double-figures in the same game.
- Norris tallied seven assists for a game-high.
- Miles Rubin tallied another two blocks.
- Tom Welch tallied seven points and five boards off the bench.
 
Up Next
Loyola returns home Saturday to play Goshen College. The Ramblers and Maple Leafs tipoff at 5 p.m. in Gentile Arena.