Clayton Custer scored 18 points with five assists and four steals and Loyola-Chicago pulled away from Valparaiso in the second half for a 70-54 win on Sunday.
Aundre Jackson added 12 points, Donte Ingram 11 and Cameron Krutwig 10. Ingram and Krutwig each had seven rebounds. Loyola-Chicago (16-4, 6-2 Missouri Valley) protected the ball with 16 assists on 27 made shots and committed just eight turnovers.
Fordham enters on the opposite end of the spectrum as losers of five straight games and seven of its last eight games.
In a 68-46 loss at Saint Joseph’s last Saturday, Fordham was led by junior guard Joseph Chartouny and junior forward Prokop Slanina, who each scored 11 points with Slanina adding eight rebounds and two blocks and Chartouny seven rebounds along with four assists and two steals.
No. 20 Florida made it back into the Top 25 this week and has won eight of nine after a bit of a slump. The Gators will meet South Carolina in this SEC game at 7 p.m. but aren’t too concerned about that Elite Eight loss.
Last year was last year, Florida coach Mike White said. It’s a completely different game. Both teams are different.
I feel like we have a good thing going right now; out defense has definitely picked up, Hudson said. (But) I feel like we have a long way to go.
The team’s offense also is doing much better. Now averaging 81.2 points per game, Florida has four players scoring in double figures.
Hudson leads the way with 16.5 points per game. Egor Koulechov (14.4), Chris Chiozza (12.3) and KeVaughn Allen (11.3) also are pitching in as the Gators’ offense has been more consistent in recent games.