On Thursday night, Stanford men’s basketball defeated the Loyola Chicago Ramblers in Santa Cruz by a final score of 75-62. Harrison Ingram led the way for the Cardinal with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists while James Keefe (14 points & 8 rebounds) and Michael Jones (12 points) also finished in double figures. Loyola Chicago guard Braden Norris was the top scorer on both sides with 18 points. Stanford improves to 5-7 overall (0-2 Pac-12) while Loyola Chicago falls to 6-6 overall (0-0 Atlantic 10).
“Obviously a great way to go into Christmas for our guys now to spend time with their families, a good taste in our mouths, and I thought we really competed,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said after the game. “I thought we played so hard defensively. We gave up some things in the first half. Some easy baskets that I think were some of our mistakes, but outside of that it was an awfully clean defensive first half. Second half, we allowed some threes later in the game that I think we lost a little bit of focus. Offensively we got to the paint, which was a priority for us this game and overall certainly pleased with, just the overall effort and execution of the game plan.”
The game got off to a slow start as both teams were tied 4-4 with 15:28 to go in the first half. Michael O’Connell and Harrison Ingram each were on the board for Stanford while Tom Welch had all four of Loyola Chicago’s points.
With 11:01 to go in the half, Stanford led 15-8 as they were finally starting to get going. Maxime Raynaud, Benny Gealer and Harrison Ingram each had a 3-pointer. The Cardinal were on an 11-4 run in early control.
“Yeah, late we missed a couple, but I think it was being a little bit more judicious about how we’re shooting them,” Haase said of the 3-point shooting. “Trying to get to the paint and attack that first and when the ball does come back out, I think a little bit more in rhythm and we have good shooters shooting them.”
Stanford would lead 22-15 with 7:41 to go in the half as Ingram was really coming alive. He was up to 10 points on 3-5 shooting from the field, 1-1 shooting from 3-point range, and 3-3 shooting from the foul line. He was in attack mode and putting the Ramblers on their heels.
Stanford would then expand their lead to double digits, leading 30-18 with 3:46 to go in the half. Stanford was shooting 12-21 (57.1%) from the field, 3-5 from 3-point range, and 3-3 from the foul line. As for Loyola Chicago, they were shooting 8-22 (36.4%) from the field, 2-8 from 3-point range, and yet to attempt a free throw.
At halftime, Stanford led 37-20. Harrison Ingram (10 points) was leading the way for the Cardinal while Michael Jones was up to 6 points. Ryan Agarwal had a nice 3-pointer plus the foul but wasn’t able to make the free throw. Agarwal’s free throw not falling seemed like the only thing that didn’t go Stanford’s way. Welch (6 points) was leading Loyola Chicago, really cooling off after his hot start.
“The message was we want to create good shots, but that’s gonna happen when we get to the paint,” Haase said of the points of emphasis coming into the game. “A lot of different ways we can get to the paint, executing our plays a little bit better, pushing in transition, so we try to get some easy ones, offensive rebounding. But at the end of the day we wanted our easy shots to be more plentiful than their easy shots.”
“I thought we executed really well,” Jones added. “And we really locked in on the defensive end and got stops. We were able to get I think, not sure how many, we call them turkeys. You know, like in bowling you get three strikes, if we get three stops in a row. I think we had numerous of those in the first half especially and it’s a good recipe for success. If you’re stopping the other team from scoring, it helps on the offensive end, keeps guys fresh and we were able to use that momentum.”
With 14:30 to go, Stanford led 47-26. Keefe was up to 10 points and 5 rebounds. He was attacking the rim like it owed him money, throwing down some really thunderous dunks inside. Stanford was in total control.
“Yeah, he was an absolute warrior,” Haase said of Keefe. “That’s what, our guys, we always talk about, I think they’re really good guys. Great citizens, great students, they just finished finals. Yes sir, no sir kind of guys. But on the court we have to be able to have that edge and that toughness and James certainly exemplifies that. He’s as good a guy as there is, but on the court he wants to be tough, physical, and have that kind of presence and I thought he was really the one that really spearheaded a lot of it tonight.”
“Yeah, tremendous, I mean he really set the tone,” Jones added. “Set the tone early for us. Had a couple dunks, ran the floor really well, defended inside, rebounded tremendously, all the things that we come to expect from him and it was obviously a real catalyst for us.”
Stanford continued to control the game as they led 57-40 with 7:38 to go. Harrison Ingram (14 points, 4 rebounds, & 3 assists), James Keefe (12 points & 7 rebounds), and Michael Jones (10 points) were leading the way for the Cardinal. All things continued to go the Cardinal’s way.
“It was good, we think his best basketball is ahead,” Haase said of Jones. “And I think he’s done some good things, but we also know that his experience, his versatility, his knowledge of the game, his savvy, all those things are gonna come I think to the forefront more and more as we move forward.”
The Ramblers would soon make a bit of a run, making it a 59-46 game with 4:36 to go. Stanford was still in a good position, but just needed to finish strong. To the Ramblers’ credit, they continued to chip away, making it a 64-54 game with 2:25 to go. They were on an 8-0 run over the last 1:03 as Marquise Kennedy was up to 11 points after knocking down a 3-pointer.
Loyola Chicago would get within 8 points (65-57) with 2:04 to go after a 3-pointer by Norris, but from there, Stanford would hang on for the victory as Michael O’Connell, Michael Jones, and Brandon Angel made their free throws to ice the game away. A driving layup by O’Connell would be the icing on the cake in the final possession for Stanford though Norris got the final word in with a pair of free throws. Stanford 75 Loyola Chicago 62 was the final score.
“Yeah, obviously we didn’t want that lead to get chipped into,” Haase admitted. “But at the same time this is a very good basketball team. They have a great culture and they have a bunch of three-point shooters. And I thought they got loose and got some looks and then built some confidence late in the second half to make it interesting.”
For Stanford, this is a really solid win. Not just because they won, but because of the way in which they won. They dominated Loyola Chicago all night and while the Ramblers did make a bit of a run at the end, this was a game that really was won from start to finish by Stanford. They were the better team all night and thus won with ease.
“It feels great, it feels great,” Jones said of getting the win. “Christmas coming up here, a lot of guys going home, going back to their families, have a couple days off. So yeah, it’s a little bit like, getting a win here is a little bit like getting a bucket going into halftime. You feel good over the break and you’re able to regroup, build on that coming out the second half of the season.”
The key to Stanford’s success was Ingram coming alive, their 50.0% shooting from the field, their defense, and their 14-18 (77.8%) shooting from the foul line. Had Stanford missed a few free throws down the stretch, this game would have gotten a bit interesting, but by making their free throws, Stanford shut the door on any possible comeback by the Ramblers.
The other part of this game that should be noted is the fact that this was a homecoming of sorts for Stanford. They played a good chunk of the pandemic season in Santa Cruz at the home the Warriors’ G-League affiliate. To be back in that same arena brought back a lot of bittersweet memories.
“It was good,” Haase said of returning to Santa Cruz. “I mean candidly, this place and Santa Cruz had a lot of, a LOT of emotions during COVID. Many of those emotions and experiences were really really tough, to be candid and many of them were really good. Obviously the games here were all positive endings and we’re excited about that, but it was, honestly it was a challenging year and being able to come back and reminisce a little bit and one thing the, reminds you of the good times and the bad times we had and the tough times, it helps you appreciate right now. The things we have now and the opportunities that we have.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Colorado. That will tip-off on Thursday, December 29th at 8:00 PM PT on ESPNU.
“We’re all excited,” Haase said of resuming conference play. “Record-wise it’s not what we want but having said that I think there’s a lot of reasons that I believe we’ve been trending the right way from the very start and we haven’t gone over the top with certain games, but we’ve had, again like I say, we’re trending the right way and I think going into conference season we’re gonna go in with some confidence, but also understanding it’s gonna take a lot of work and discipline.”
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