Saturday, December 5
Chicago, Ill.
1:00 PM
Creighton University
5-3
65
at
68
Loyola Chicago
5-3
1
2
F
Creighton
25
40
65
Loyola
29
39
68
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Despite Furious Finish, Men's Basketball Falls to Loyola 68-65
12/5/2015 4:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Chicago, Ill. - Despite a furious finish that saw the Creighton men's basketball team cut a double-digit deficit to two points in the closing seconds, the Bluejays fell to Loyola 68-65 on Saturday, Dec. 5.
The loss dropped Creighton to 5-3 on the season, while Loyola moved to 5-3 as well.
Cole Huff found his range early in the contest, opening the game 3-of-4 from the field to score the Bluejays first seven points. The rest of the Bluejays, however, struggled hitting just two of their first 18 shots. The result was a 27-13 deficit to draw the second Bluejay timeout of the half with 4:02 remaining. Creighton received the message from head coach Greg McDermott loud and clear as his team responded by closing the half on a 12-2 run to go into halftime trailing just 29-25.
Early in the second half, Creighton got within three on two free throws from Maurice Watson to make it a 32-29 contest (17:41). The Ramblers answered with a 10-3 run over the next five minutes to push their lead back to double figures at 42-32. The deficit grew to 11 with 7:55 left (51-40), but five points in under a minute by Khyri Thomas forced Loyola into a timeout.
Trailing 59-51 with 3:36 on the clock, Thomas delivered another five-point blow with a trey from the left corner followed by a driving layup. Loyola believed it had delivered the final blow via a three-ball from Ben Richardson in the final minute, but Toby Hegner answered just eight seconds later to make it a 62-59 contest with 45 seconds left.
The Ramblers got two free throws from Milton Doyle, but Watson responded with a driving layup. The next trip to the foul line for Loyola saw Peterson hit one of two. With 14 seconds left the Bluejays made it a two-point game on an interior bucket from Geoffrey Groselle. Creighton forced Loyola into a turnover on the inbound play, but were unable to knock down the game-tying free throws, and also missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer in the closing seconds. The Ramblers went on to claim the game, 68-65.
Thomas led the Bluejays with 22 points, while Groselle posted his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Loyola got 17 points from Milton Doyle and 15 from Devon Turk.
The Bluejays return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 9 as Creighton hosts in-state rival Nebraska at 7:00 pm in CenturyLink Center Omaha.
The loss dropped Creighton to 5-3 on the season, while Loyola moved to 5-3 as well.
Cole Huff found his range early in the contest, opening the game 3-of-4 from the field to score the Bluejays first seven points. The rest of the Bluejays, however, struggled hitting just two of their first 18 shots. The result was a 27-13 deficit to draw the second Bluejay timeout of the half with 4:02 remaining. Creighton received the message from head coach Greg McDermott loud and clear as his team responded by closing the half on a 12-2 run to go into halftime trailing just 29-25.
Early in the second half, Creighton got within three on two free throws from Maurice Watson to make it a 32-29 contest (17:41). The Ramblers answered with a 10-3 run over the next five minutes to push their lead back to double figures at 42-32. The deficit grew to 11 with 7:55 left (51-40), but five points in under a minute by Khyri Thomas forced Loyola into a timeout.
Trailing 59-51 with 3:36 on the clock, Thomas delivered another five-point blow with a trey from the left corner followed by a driving layup. Loyola believed it had delivered the final blow via a three-ball from Ben Richardson in the final minute, but Toby Hegner answered just eight seconds later to make it a 62-59 contest with 45 seconds left.
The Ramblers got two free throws from Milton Doyle, but Watson responded with a driving layup. The next trip to the foul line for Loyola saw Peterson hit one of two. With 14 seconds left the Bluejays made it a two-point game on an interior bucket from Geoffrey Groselle. Creighton forced Loyola into a turnover on the inbound play, but were unable to knock down the game-tying free throws, and also missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer in the closing seconds. The Ramblers went on to claim the game, 68-65.
Thomas led the Bluejays with 22 points, while Groselle posted his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Loyola got 17 points from Milton Doyle and 15 from Devon Turk.
The Bluejays return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 9 as Creighton hosts in-state rival Nebraska at 7:00 pm in CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Team Stats
CU
LUC
FG%
.424
.417
3FG%
.300
.400
FT%
.563
.714
RB
45
32
TO
12
9
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
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