Poor shooting dooms Loyola-Chicago at South Florida
Cold shooting did in Loyola of Chicago in its second game in the USF Invitational in Tampa, Fla.
Playing event host South Florida in its home arena, the Sun Dome, the Ramblers shot only 36.8 percent from the field in dropping a 68-50 decision to the Bulls Saturday evening.
With the defeat, the Ramblers, who lost to Western Michigan the night before, fell to 2-2 on the season. They play winless Maryland-Eastern Shore Sunday in the final of the three-day event.
"I thought we came out and played hard but we just had some breakdowns that cost us," Loyola coach Porter Moser said. "I like the character of this team. Our guys want to be good and we are going to be good. We are just going through some growing pains right now and have to learn from this and get better."
While the Ramblers were struggling from the field, the Bulls were blistering the nets with 50.0 percent shooting.
Even so, the Ramblers managed to trim a 17-point halftime deficit down to 12 by scoring the first five points of the second half. But Victor Rudd sank a 3-pointer and Anthony Collins made a free throw to push the Bulls' lead to a game-high 19 points at 47-28 with 13:30 left to play.
The Ramblers fought back within 58-45, but they missed an opportunity to cut even deeper, and the Bulls regained control and led 64-45 heading into the final minute.
Loyola failed to have a player score in double figures. Senior forward Ben Averkamp and freshman guard Devon Turk shared team scoring honors with nine points each, with all of Turk's points coming on 3-pointers.
South Florida had three players in double digits, led by Kore White with 15 points.
Loyola last defeated a Big East Conference member on Jan. 24, 1994 when it downed Notre Dame 70-58.
