Box Score The No. 16 Wolf Pack have started the season with two wins over Top 25 ranked teams
ALEXANDRIA, La. – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team had a tough road ahead when it finally got the season started last week. After the first three games were postponed, Loyola had to open the season with two straight Top 25 opponents, and the Wolf Pack answered the bell.
No. 16 Loyola started the season with an 11-point win over No. 20 Xavier last week, then the Pack followed that up with a 101-93 win at No. 13 LSU Alexandria Monday night.
Andrew Fava opened the game with a 3-pointer to quickly get the scoring started, then a Terry Smith Jr. basket and two Myles Burns free throws made it a 6-0 game. Smith and Burns got on the board again before Matt Maturah converted an and-1 opportunity to push Loyola's lead to 15-4 just four minutes into the game.
Zach Wrightsil and Tim Cameron hit back-to-back shots over the next couple of minutes to give the Wolf Pack a 28-17 advantage, but the Generals cut Loyola's lead to 28-24 with nine minutes left in the half. LSU Alexandria would eventually tie the game 38-38 with four minutes to go before taking a 49-46 lead into halftime.
Once again, Fava started the half with a 3-pointer, then he proceeded to hit two more in the next couple of minutes. Five minutes into the half, Fava was fouled on a 3-point shot, making all three free throws to give Loyola a 64-61 lead. Trailing 70-67, Cameron hit back-to-back 3s in a 23-second span, but LSUA would tie it with a 3-pointer for the third tie of the quarter.
Eight minutes and two ties later, the score was 88-88 with three and a half minutes to go. However, Eddie Burgess cleaned up a missed shot to give Loyola the lead for good, 90-88, then Burns slammed home an alley-oop to extend the lead to four. After a couple of missed 3-pointers by LSUA, Smith got a fast-break bucket and Cameron hit two free throws to put the game away.
Loyola will return to action Monday, Nov. 23, when it travels to Xavier for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
"It's tough to say coming out of an eight-point win against a team that is really tough to beat on the road that we didn't execute our game plan well, but we didn't. We have quite a ways to go to be the team that I feel like our group envisions. There were a number of bright spots and good moments but we have to be better on the glass and have to take better care of the ball. We had some specific points of emphasis and we just didn't hit our mark. Credit goes to LSUA and Coach Larry Cordaro. They fought back and went toe to toe with us from start to finish."
Pack Facts
Monday's win over No. 13 LSU Alexandria marked two straight wins over Top 25-ranked teams this season. Loyola hasn't recorded back-to-back wins in the same season over Top 25 teams since the 2018 postseason when it beat No. 5 Stillman in the SSAC Tournament and No. 9 Missouri Baptist in the NAIA Tournament.
Andrew Fava led the Pack with 21 points Monday. It was also Fava's fourth career game to score 20-plus points in eight career games.
Terry Smith Jr. and Myles Burns earned Loyola's first double-doubles of the season with a 20-point, 16-rebound performance from Smith and 11 points and 11 rebounds from Burns. It was Smith's 15th career double-double and Burns' 27th.
Zach Wrightsil was one rebound away from a double-double. The junior scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
Tim Cameron and Eddie Burgess combined for 26 bench points for the Wolf Pack, as Cameron scored 16 and Burgess added 10.
Loyola handed LSU Alexandria just its fifth home loss since the 2013-14 season. The Generals were 74-4 at home entering Monday night's tilt.
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