Hawkeyes Hand Loyola Its First Defeat, 103-80

Loyola Marymount stayed with fifth-ranked Iowa for a half, but two second half-spurts enabled the Hawkeyes to pull away and win their own tournament with a 103-80 victory Saturday night.

“We fought as hard as we could but just couldn’t keep up,” Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said after his team dropped to 3-1.

The Lions trailed only 46-42 at halftime, but 11 straight points during a four-minute span gave Iowa (6-0) a 61-47 lead with 15:11 left to play.

Loyola came back with 5 straight points to get within 9, but a 17-3 spurt gave Iowa an 88-62 lead with 6:24 left.

Loyola forward Mike Yoest led all scorers with 22 points and was named to the all-tournament team along with Lion guard Chris Nikchevich, who had 19 points. Yoest, who had a career-high 35 points in a 96-89 victory over Washington State Friday night, set a tournament record with 57 points in the two games.

Yoest and Nikchevich, a transfer from BYU, are both from Encino’s Crespi High School.

Freshman guard Jeff Fryer came off the bench to score 15 points. He made 3 of 8 three-point shots.

B.J. Armstrong led Iowa with 21 points and tournament MVP Roy Marble added 20. Seven-foot center Brad Lohaus scored 12 points, hitting two three-point shots, and had 9 rebounds.

Iowa held a 57-42 advantage in rebounding, getting 24 off the offensive board.

Iowa also played solid defense, forcing 15 first-half turnovers and holding Loyola 23 points under its season scoring average.

Iowa made 43 of 90 field-goal attempts but only 9 of 23 free throws. Loyola connected on 30 of 68 shots and 14 of 21 free throws.

Loyola is idle until next Saturday night when its plays host to Cal State Long Beach.

In Saturday night’s consolation game, Delaware defeated Washington State, 55-50.