Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Harrison Ingram and James Keefe combined for 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting, Stanford limited Loyola-Chicago to five points in the final 9:15 of the first half and the Cardinal wrapped up their nonconference schedule with a convincing 75-62 triumph over the Ramblers Thursday night in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Ingram finished with a team-high 15 points and Keefe 14 for Stanford (5-7), which returns to Pacific-12 Conference play when it hosts Colorado next Thursday.
Braden Norris had a game-high 18 points to pace Loyola (6-6), which makes its Atlantic-10 Conference debut next Saturday at home against George Washington.
En route to its second win in the last three games, Stanford led 15-10 in the 11th minute of the first half before its defense helped it grab control of the contest.
The Cardinal went on to score 17 of the half’s final 22 points, with seven different players providing hoops on a run that gave Stanford a 37-20 halftime lead. Reserve Michael Jones was the only Cardinal with multiple hoops in the burst with two.
Playing about 30 miles from campus, Stanford went up by as many as 21 in the second half before Loyola, seeking a fourth straight win, began chipping away.
A 3-pointer by Norris got the Ramblers as close as 65-57 with still 2:04 to play, before Michael O’Connell, Jones and Brandon Angel dropped in free throws to ice the win.
Ingram’s 15 points were his second most this season. He hit five of his eight shots and Keefe seven of his nine, helping the Cardinal as a team connect on 50 percent of their shots.
Ingram also chipped in with a game-high-tying three assists, while Keefe tied Loyola’s Marquise Kennedy for game-high rebounding honors with eight.
Jones contributed 12 points and O’Connell 10 for the Cardinal, who began Pac-12 play earlier this month with losses to UCLA and Arizona State.
Four of Loyola’s five starters scored in double figures, with Kennedy (14), Philip Alston (11) and Tom Welch (10) joining Norris with 10 or more.
The team’s fifth starter, Ben Schwieger, had five rebounds, three assists and three steals to go with six points.
–Field Level Media