Box Score The top-ranked Wolf Pack traveled to Dalton State Thursday for a road Southern States Athletic Conference contest, leaving with their undefeated record still intact.
DALTON, Ga. – The No. 1 Loyola Wolf Pack traveled to Dalton, Georgia, Thursday for their fourth road Southern States Athletic Conference matchup in their first five league games, leaving with a 86-56 win over Dalton State. Loyola improved to 5-0 in SSAC play after Thursday's win, also moving its overall record to a program-best 16-0.
Loyola's highly-anticipated matchup with No. 3 Talladega College set for Saturday has been postponed, so the next time the Pack hits the court will be on Thursday, Jan. 13, at Tulane's Devlin Fieldhouse against No. 11 Stillman College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
After shooting just 39 percent from the field in its win on Monday over Mobile, Loyola was 8-for-12 from the floor through the first nine and a half minutes of the game, pushing ahead 20-11 during that time. The Wolf Pack used two 3-pointers by Brandon Davis and one from Andrew Fava, starting the game 3-for-3 from beyond the arc after making just two 3s Monday night. Terry Smith Jr. also scored seven points with three made shots and a free throw to help Loyola get off to a hot start.
The Wolf Pack continued to build on the score, getting eight more points from Fava to spark a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 30-14 with less than eight minutes until halftime. Smith added four more points down the stretch to help the Pack maintain a double-digit lead at the break, 39-27.
Loyola didn't let up in the second half, outsourcing the Roadrunners 47-29 in the final 20 minutes. Myles Burns and Jalen Galloway got the scoring start first, then Davis made his third 3-pointer of the game to give the Pack a 46-33 lead three minutes into the half. Those three combined to score the first 13 points as well, extending the score to 52-33.
Galloway and Milan Mejia each connected on 3s, pushing the advantage to 27, 66-39, then another 3-point by Mejia made it a 30-point lead, 72-42, with seven minutes to play. Smith and Zach Wrightsil added a combined 12 points down the stretch to complete the win.
Pack Facts
Terry Smith Jr. produced his best offensive game of the season, finishing with a game-high 19 points and six rebounds while going 9-for-10 on his field-goal attempts.
Brandon Davis finished second on the team with 16 points and three triples. It's his 10th game this season scoring at least 16 points.
Zach Wrightsil made all five of his field-goal attempts while dishing out a game-high five assists.
Wrightsil's 10 points pushed him over the 1,700-point mark for his Wolf Pack career, as he's now at 1,702 career points and sits just four points behind third-place on Loyola's all-time scoring list.
Andrew Fava was the fourth Wolf Pack player in double figures, scoring all 11 of his points in the first half.
Loyola recorded a field-goal percentage of 63.5, converting on 33 of the team's 52 shot attempts. It's the most efficient offensive night for the Wolf Pack since Jan. 18, 2020, when Loyola went 36-of-54 from the field for 66.7 percent in a win against Tennessee Southern.
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