What went down: The Loyola men’s basketball team (24-5, 14-3) traveled to Carbondale to take on Southern Illinois University Wednesday night and defeated the Salukis 75-56. The Ramblers clinched first place in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and the No. 1 seed in the MVC tournament March 1-4. This marks the first time Loyola has won an outright conference title since the 1984-85 season as a member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.
How it happened: Loyola shot lights out to start the game, leading by as much as 17 points at one point. But, Southern Illinois stormed back and Loyola took an eight-point lead into halftime.