Box Score The third-ranked Wolf Pack men's basketball dominated the Knights Thursday night, reaching the 100-point mark for the fourth time this season
NEW ORLEANS – The third-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team made quick work of the Middle Georgia State Knights Thursday, running away with the 129-76 win in The Den. Loyola will now put its 18-1 overall record and 7-1 mark in the Southern States Athletic Conference on the line Saturday against Brewton-Parker, hosting the Barons at 2 p.m.
Despite the final score, it was Middle Georgia State that got off to a quick start to take a 6-2 in the first two and a half minutes. But that was all the Knights could celebrate, because a steal by Myles Burns and a dunk on the other end of the court by Zach Muller tied the game moments later. From there, Loyola dominated for the rest of the game.
The Pack ended up going on a 21-6 run to take complete control of the contest, as Zach Wrightsil scored six of those points while Milan Mejia, Brandon Davis and Burns all hit 3-pointers. Muller's 3 with 12-plus minutes until halftime doubled-up the Knights, 26-13, and Burns and Wrightsil combined to score Loyola's next 11 points to push the lead to 37-15 with 10 minutes to go. Andrew Fava then hit three 3s of his own while Josh Leaney added a pair, too, and the Pack led big at the break, 73-40.
The second half was the Brandon Davis show, as the sophomore scored 19 of his 22 points in the final 20 minutes. He started with a 3-pointer in the opening minute and he proceeded to hit four more from beyond the arc to keep Loyola well ahead. Jalen Galloway, Andrew Stagni, Eddie Burgess and Luke Ladner got in on the scoring action, too, and the Knights never could cut their deficit to 33 or less.
Pack Facts
Terry Smith Jr. notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four steals.
Smith now has 1,512 points for his career at Loyola, becoming the third player on the team to reach the 1,500 mark along with Zach Wrightsil and Myles Burns.
In Loyola's history, 11 different men's basketball players have scored at least 1,500 points in their careers.
Wrightsil posted the third triple-double of his career, finishing with a stat line of 25 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, and three steals while shooting 11-of-14 from the floor.
Now with 1,747 points in his Loyola career, Zach Wrightsil ranks second all-time on Loyola's career scoring list.
Myles Burns scored 22 points while going 10-of-12 from the field, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out seven assists. Burns also collected seven steals, marking the fourth game this season in which he's stolen the ball seven times.
Brandon Davis also finished with 22 points, 19 of which came in the second half. He made a game-high five three-pointers.
Zach Muller was the fifth player in double figures for the Wolf Pack, putting up 10 points and seven assists.
As a whole, Loyola had 39 assists on 52 made baskets, the most single-game team assists in the modern era. The team shot 61.9 percent from the field, the second-best mark this season.
The team also made 18 three-pointers, shooting 51.4 percent from beyond the arc. It was the best three-point shooting performance of the modern era.
Nine players hit at least one three-pointer for the Wolf Pack on Thursday: Davis, Wrightsil, Burns, Muller, Andrew Fava, Milan Mejia, Josh Leaney, Andrew Stagni, Luke Ladner. All 12 players who saw game action also scored.
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
