Loyola wins, UIC falls in Wednesday action

A roundup of college basketball games of local interest:

LOYOLA 50, DRAKE 47

Christian Thomas scored 16 points to lead Loyola to a 50-47 win over visiting Drake on Wednesday night.

Devon Turk had 12 points and Milton Doyle finished with seven assists for the Ramblers (13-4, 3-2 Missouri Valley). Thomas finished 7-of-11 shooting and Loyola made 21 of 41 from the field (51.2 percent), as Drake shot a mere 38.3 percent from the field.

Gary Ricks Jr. finished with 24 points, including seven 3-pointers for the Bulldogs (3-14, 0-5). Drake out-rebounded the Ramblers 28-24.

After Jacob Enevold Jensen’s layup gave Drake the one-point advantage with 4:24 to go, Christian Thomas and Milton Doyle connected on consecutive jumpers to put the Ramblers up 48-45 at the 2:29 mark.

A jumper by Jordan Daniels about 30 seconds later cut Drake’s deficit to one, but Thomas converted a layup with 1:32 left and Loyola held on.

Ricks missed a potential tying 3 with 2 seconds left.

DETROIT 69, UIC 68

Jarod Williams hit a pair of free throws with 2 seconds left after Detroit forced two turnovers, completing a late rally for a 69-68 win over host UIC.

The Titans (9-9, 3-1 Horizon) erased a 13-point, second-half deficit, chipping away to tie the game at 63 after a layup by Chris Jenkins.

Jay Harris answered with a 3-pointer for the Flames (5-14, 1-3) and Lance Whitaker sank two free throws for a 68-64 lead with 51 seconds left.

Jenkins came up with a steal and dunked to make it 68-67 with 3 seconds remaining. UIC attempted a long inbounds pass, but turned it over and fouled in the process, setting up Williams for his go-ahead free throws.

Paris Bass led Detroit with 19 points, Juwan Howard Jr. added 14 and Jenkins 13.

Harris paced the Flames with 22 points and Jake Wiegand had 14.

NOTRE DAME 62, GEORGIA TECH 59

Jerian Grant scored 12 points, Steve Vasturia added 11 points and No. 12 Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 62-59 in Atlanta.

Despite the absence of starting forward Zach Auguste, the Fighting Irish (16-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) secured their best start to a season since 1978-79.

Pat Connaughton, V.J. Beachem and Bonzie Colson each finished with 10 points, and Demetrius Jackson had nine for Notre Dame, which has won 12 of 13.

Irish coach Mike Brey said Auguste, who has averaged 14.3 points and 6.4 rebounds, missed the game because of an academic matter, but Brey would not speculate on a timetable for his return.

Demarco Cox scored 17 points and Chris Bolden added 13 for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets (9-7, 0-4 ACC) haven’t lost a league game by more than seven points this season.

BUFFALO 82, N. ILLINOIS 63

Justin Moss scored 18 points as Buffalo doubled Northern Illinois’ score by halftime and hung on for an 82-63 victory in Buffalo, N.Y.

Buffalo (11-4, 2-1 Mid-American) had a 42-21 lead at the break and held its edge between 14 and 27 points during the second half.

Jarryn Skeete scored 14 points, Shannon Evans added 13, Rodell Wigginton 12 and Lamonte Bearden 11 for Buffalo. Skeete was 4 of 7 from 3-point range and Evans had four steals.

Buffalo took its first commanding lead at 29-15 after a 17-2 run and finished the first half on an 11-2 run. The Bulls held NIU (7-7, 1-2) to just 8 of 30 from the field in the first half.

Northern Illinois closed within 55-41 midway through the second half, but Buffalo pulled away for good with a 12-2 run.

Anthony Johnson led the Huskies with 21 points and Aaric Armstead added 16.

INDIANA STATE 71, ILLINOIS STATE 70, OT

Tre’ Bennett sank a layup in the final seconds of overtime to give Indiana State a 71-70 victory over Illinois State in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Bennett’s game-winning shot came with three seconds to play in overtime after Illinois State had taken a 70-69 lead on a Daishon Knight jumper with 21 seconds remaining. Bennett finished with 12 points for the Sycamores (9-8, 5-0, Missouri Valley Conference).

The Sycamores took advantage of Illinois State turnovers in the second period to open a 44-39 lead midway, then stretched it to 51-41 on a Brenton Scott 3-pointer with 8:23 to play. The Redbirds (10-7, 2-3) came back to take a 56-52 lead on an 8-1 run with 4:15 left. Later, the Sycamores tied it 62-62 on a pair of free throws by Khristian Smith in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game into overtime.

Knight scored 21 points for the Redbirds.

WICHITA STATE 67, S. ILLINOIS 55

Darius Carter scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, leading No. 13 Wichita State past visiting Southern Illinois 67-55.

Ron Baker had 11 points and Tekele Cotton added 10 as the Shockers (15-2, 5-0 Missouri Valley) won their 23rd straight conference game.

Deion Lavender scored 15 points, Bola Olaniyan had 12 and Anthony Beane 10 as Southern Illinois (7-11, 0-5) lost its seventh straight.

MARQUETTE 53, CREIGHTON 52

Matt Carlino scored 19 and hit the game-winner on a pull-up 3 with 11 seconds left to lift Marquette past visiting Creighton 53-52.

Marquette (10-6, 2-2 Big East) took possession trailing by two points after Will Artino’s travelling violation for Creighton (9-9, 0-5) with 21 seconds left. Carlino dribbled from the right wing off a screen to get free near the top of the key.

Carlino also had a 17-foot jumper off the dribble that pulled Marquette within 52-50 with 53 seconds left.

Duane Wilson added 17 points for the Golden Eagles, who led by 13 late in the first half. Creighton had back-to-back 3s in the final minute to cut the deficit to 28-21 at the break.

Rick Kreklow scored 13 and Toby Hegner 10 to lead the Bluejays, who pulled back in front midway through the second and led 50-46 on Kreklow’s 3 with 2 minutes left.