LOYOLA 57, UW-MILWAUKEE 51
J.R. Blount’s family was at a prayer meeting Tuesday night and missed the Loyola guard and Milwaukee native competing in the first round of the League tournament.
Apparently, the praying convened around halftime.
After a first half at U.S. Cellular Arena that begged for a little divine intervention, Loyola’s shots started falling and the eighth-seeded Ramblers (12-18) upset No. 5 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 57-51.
“Once I make one, I know I can score,” Blount said.
Blount scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, equaling the Ramblers’ total offensive output in the first half.
“Both of us couldn’t score a lot,” Loyola coach Jim Whitesell said. “It wasn’t bad shots by us or Milwaukee. Some nights they’re not going in. Offensively, it was not a thing of beauty, but [Blount] got us some baskets and we got moving a little bit.”
UIC 70, YOUNGSTOWN ST. 59
Illinois-Chicago did a lot of fumbling and stumbling Tuesday night at the Pavilion but held on to defeat Youngstown State 70-59 and move on to the quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament in Indianapolis.
The quarterfinal game Friday will be a Chicago showdown, pitting fourth-seeded UIC against eighth-seeded Loyola, an upset winner at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in another of Tuesday’s four opening round games. The winner will play regular-season champion Butler in Saturday’s semifinals.
Scott VanderMeer’s dominance on the backboards and 10-for-11 free throw shooting in the final 3 1 /2 minutes enabled the Flames (17-14) to win despite 19 turnovers.
“We can’t beat other teams in the league if we play the way we did tonight,” said the 7-foot VanderMeer, whose 13 rebounds in 23 minutes were the primary reason UIC controlled the boards 44-30.
“We know we didn’t play to the best of our ability,” said Robert Bush, who led UIC in scoring with 14 points.
