National Basketball Association
Loyola-Chicago 65, Florida 59
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Where: Exactech Arena, Gainesville, Florida
Officials:
# Joe Lindsay, # Ron Groover, # Robert Felder
Attendance:
9012
By The Sports Xchange
Florida came into the week on a roll. Despite losing to top-ranked Duke on Nov. 26, the Gators were averaging almost 100 points per game, had gone over the century mark four times in their first seven contests and were 5-1.
Everything has changed this week, though, as the Gators officially are in a slump. Loyola (Chicago) helped put them there on Wednesday night.
Aundre Jackson scored a game-high 23 points, and Cameron Satterwhite made four key free throws in the final 16 seconds as Loyola (Chicago) stunned No. 5 Florida 65-59 in Gainesville, Fla.
Loyola beat a team ranked in the top five for the first time in 33 years.
"I'm just so proud of my guys for the effort they put forth tonight," Loyola coach Porter Moser said. "We have all the respect in the world for Florida and coach (Mike) White."
Florida (5-3) has lost three consecutive games. Following the loss to Duke, the Gators were upset by Florida State on Monday and then lost to Loyola (9-1).
The Gators shot just 36.9 percent from the field and missed 17 of 19 3-pointers. The Ramblers made 52 percent of their field-goal attempts and half of their 12 3-point tries.
Florida's poor shooting, especially from long-range, hurt the team for a second straight game.
"We couldn't buy a basket," White said on the team's radio broadcast. "The thing wouldn't go in for us, for whatever reason."
It went in often for the Ramblers as Jackson, a senior, had a big night. He made 10 of 12 shots from the field, including all three of his 3-point attempts.
Freshman Cameron Krutwig helped with 14 points and eight rebounds. Donte Ingram added 11 points and eight rebounds. Satterwhite finished with only four points, but he got them at the right time.
The Ramblers led most of the game, but the Gators kept chipping away and cut their deficit to 61-59 in the final two minutes. They appeared to tie it, but a tip-in was waved off, and Loyola remained in the lead.
Satterwhite made two free throws with 16 seconds left, extending the lead to four. He clinched the victory with two more free throws with one second left.
"This is a huge win for our program, and we hope this makes the fire burn brighter in our guys moving forward," Moser said.
No Florida player reached double figures. Chris Chiozza and Jalen Hudson led the Gators with nine points apiece.
Florida started shooting poorly for a second consecutive game, helping Loyola jump to some big early leads.
The Ramblers made 11 of their first 17 shots and rolled to a 27-14 lead midway through the first half before Florida slowly woke up on offense.
The Gators made a late run in the first half that cut the Ramblers' lead to 34-31 at halftime, but Florida came up short once more.
"We've had a tough week," White said on the team's radio broadcast. "We've played versus good defenses, and they have defended us at a high level. (We) couldn't quite score enough."
NOTES: This was the first meeting between the schools. ... Florida began the week averaging 99.5 points per game on offense, ranked first in the nation, but had scored 66 in a loss to Florida State on Monday before being held to 59 on Wednesday. ... The Ramblers now have won two straight after their only loss of the season, at Boise State on Nov. 28.
Top Game Performances
Loyola-Chicago |
|
Florida |
Aundre Jackson 23 |
Scoring |
Chris Chiozza 9 |
Clayton Custer 3 |
Assists |
Chris Chiozza 4 |
Donte Ingram 8 |
Rebounds |
Egor Koulechov 9 |
Cameron Satterwhite 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Jalen Hudson 3 |
Cameron Krutwig 3 |
Steals |
KeVaughn Allen 3 |
Aundre Jackson 1 |
Blocks |
Kevarrius Hayes 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Loyola-Chicago
|
65 |
52.0 |
6-12 |
7-9 |
14 |
29 |
4 |
6 |
15 |
Florida
|
59 |
36.9 |
2-19 |
9-14 |
7 |
32 |
3 |
9 |
8 |