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Michigan State 87, Loyola (Ill.) 52
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
A bad start segued into an even worse ending for Loyola (Ill.) on Friday night at No. 19 Michigan State.
Trailing 17-2 before the game was nine minutes old, the Ramblers never came close to threatening the Spartans, absorbing an 87-52 loss at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich.
Five players reached double figures for Michigan State (2-1), playing its home opener.
Forwards Marvin Clark and Branden Dawson each scored 15 points, and center Matt Costello and guard Travis Trice each had 13. Guard Denzel Valentine stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Guard Milton Doyle was Loyola’s only double-figure scorer with 13 points, although he made just 5 of 14 shots from the field. The Ramblers (2-1) struggled in every category, shooting just 35.2 percent from the field and getting dominated 39-20 on the glass.
The Spartans sank 64.3 percent of their shots from the field, drawing assists on 27 of their 36 field goals.
Michigan State established a 21-point lead with 6:44 left in the first half on a layup by guard Bryn Forbes.
The Spartans took a 38-14 lead to the locker room and didn’t let Loyola up for air, starting the second half with a 10-2 spurt. Trice’s 3-point play made it 48-16 with 16:18 remaining.
It was the 38th consecutive win in a home opener for the Spartans and the 20th in a row for coach Tom Izzo.
Loyola tries to bounce back on Tuesday night at Texas-San Antonio.
