Loyola Spreads the Wealth in Blasting San Jose State

If Loyola Marymount proved anything Tuesday night, it was that it didn’t need even an average game from its best player to win big.

With Wyking Jones contributing little offensively--the All-West Coast Conference forward scored only eight points--the Lions still rolled over San Jose State, 79-59, before 1,178 at Loyola.

“It just shows that we’re more than one-dimensional,” said point guard Jim Williamson. “Wyking is our big man and our go-to guy, but if he’s struggling a little bit, we try to pick each other up.”

Most of the lifting this night was done by Mike O’Quinn, who scored a career-high 20 points in his first game in almost a year; and Williamson, who scored a career-high 18.

O’Quinn played only nine games last season before he was declared academically ineligible and was not in uniform for last Saturday night’s season-opening 92-51 victory over Cal State Hayward, apparently because he broke a team rule.

“It seems like so long since I’d been on the court,” he said. “It’s like when you haven’t eaten for like a week and you’re, like, starving just to get back out there to prove to everybody that you can play.”

O’Quinn scored 15 points in the first half, including three three-point baskets during a 13-2 run that gave Loyola (2-0) a 37-22 lead. San Jose (0-1) never got closer than 53-46 again.