Trey Green and Ishan Sharma each scored 14 points to lead No. 18 Saint Louis to an 86-59 road win over Loyola Chicago on Friday, the Billikens’ 18th consecutive victory.
Quentin Jones tallied 12 points and six rebounds while Amari McCottry added 11 points and seven rebounds for Saint Louis (24-1, 12-0 Atlantic 10).
Justin Moore led Loyola (6-20, 2-11) with 12 points. Daniil Glazkov added 11 points and six rebounds for the Ramblers, who lost for the 11th time in 12 games.
Saint Louis broke the game open in the second half as it outscored Loyola 47-30.
Overall, the Billikens shot 43.8% from 3-point range (14 of 32), while Loyola hit 26.3% (10 of 38) from beyond the arc. The Saint Louis bench outscored the Ramblers’ reserves 38-21, and the Billikens also piled up a 38-14 edge on points in the paint.
After Loyola opened the game with a 3-pointer from Moore, the Ramblers missed its next 12 shots from beyond the arc. Once they ended that skid, the Ramblers got hot from long distance and went on a 15-7 run. A pair of threes from Glazkov and one apiece from Deywilk Tavarez, Kayde Dotson and Moore pulled Loyola within 31-29 late in the first half.
The Billikens took advantage of four consecutive Loyola turnovers and closed the first half with an 8-0 scoring rally. Kellen Thames gathered a half-court pass from Jones for a layup before Green and Jones hit treys for a 39-29 halftime lead.
Early in the second half, Xavier Amos sank two foul shots to cut Saint Louis’ lead to 43-36. It would be the closest the Ramblers would get the rest of the way.
A pair of threes from Sharma stretched the Billikens’ advantage to 60-42 as Saint Louis found some breathing room with 13:16 remaining. The visitors pushed the edge to 71-48 on Thames’ offensive rebound and finger-roll putback, part of an 8-0 run.
The Billikens had 10 second-chance points while Loyola only had two.
Saint Louis shot 50.8% from the field (33 of 65) while Loyola finished at 33.9% (20 of 59).
–Field Level Media
