Loyola dominates Dillard in crosstown matchup, 91-67

Loyola men’s basketball team pulled away in the second half from Dillard on Thursday to earn the program’s 23rd straight win

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men’s basketball team took on crosstown rival Dillard University on Thursday night in The Den, starting the season 2-0 after a 91-67 win over the Bleu Devils. The win also marks the 23rd straight victory for the program, having not lost a game since last January.

The Wolf Pack will next play an exhibition game against Southeastern Louisiana on Monday, as tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Hammond. Loyola will return to regular competition next Saturday when it hosts Southern University at New Orleans at 6 p.m. Loyola Athletics will also unveil the 2021-2022 Men’s Basketball National Championship banner, as well as present the championship rings to the members of the team prior to the game at 5:40 p.m.

Three different Wolf Pack players contributed to the first six points, as Michael Harden, Zach Muller and Alex Hammond all got on the board to make it a 6-3 lead two minutes into the contest. After Dillard made it a 9-8 game four minutes later, Leonard Jackson came off the bench and got hot. He made his first of three 3-pointers to make it an 11-8 lead, then another 3 a couple of minutes later broke a tie, 14-11. Jackson and Muller made consecutive shots after that, 18-13, and two Jackson free throws and another 3-pointer from the Waggaman, Louisiana, native extend the score to 25-16 with eight minutes until halftime.

Michael Harden was key on the defensive end, too, collecting three first-half steals to help keep Loyola ahead. His 3-pointer at the end of the first half, as well as two 3s from Milan Mejia allowed the Pack to take a 43-30 lead into the locker room during halftime.

Hammond got things going in the second half with a 3-pointer in the opening minute, 46-30, and another 3 by Mejia a couple of minutes later made the Wolf Pack lead 51-37. The 3s continued to rain down as Galloway and Andrew Stagni each hit one in less than a minute, 59-45. Jackson kept the hot shooting going with his first 3 of the second half, 62-45, and Stagni kept the momentum in Loyola’s favor with another from beyond the arc to put the Pack ahead 65-45 at the 12-minute mark.

Jackson finished 6-for-7 from 3-point land, as he swished two more in a 90-second span, 75-53, with seven and a half minutes left. Those were the last of Loyola’s 13 3s in the game, as the Pack cruised to the win.

Pack Facts
• Loyola has won the last six matchups with Dillard dating back to Nov. 15, 2018.
• Leonard Jackson had a career night, putting up 23 points on 7-8 shooting, including 6-7 on his three-point attempts. In just tonight’s game, he surpassed all his season totals from 2021-22, where he scored 20 points across five games.
• Jalen Galloway only scored five points on Thursday, but that was enough to put him in the 1,000-point club for his collegiate career. Galloway scored 697 in three seasons at the College of Idaho, and he has 304 in 40 games with the Pack for a total of 1,001 total points.
• Loyola had four players score in double figures: Jackson (23), Zach Muller (17), Michael Harden (15), and Andrew Stagni (10).
• Harden and Muller tied for a team high with five assists each. Harden also led the team with three steals, all of which were in the first half.
• Loyola shot 56 percent from the field for the game, going 13-25 (52 percent) from three-point range. Six different members of the Pack hit a three on Thursday.

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