Hawkins, McIntosh lead Illinois State past Loyola 81-59

Jan 1, 2017, 05:09 pm

CHICAGO -- Deontae Hawkins scored 16 points, MiKyle McIntosh added 14 and Illinois State cruised to an 81-59 win over Loyola Chicago on Sunday.

Hawkins hit 5 of 7 shots, including three 3-pointers as the Redbirds (10-4, 2-0 Missouri Valley) won their third straight and sixth in last seven. McIntosh grabbed seven rebounds to help Illinois State to a 34-25 advantage. Paris Lee scored seven points to surpass 1,000 for his career.

McIntosh had 14 points in the first half when Illinois State made 6 of 11 3-pointers and opened a 39-28 lead.

DJ Clayton knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:33 to play, starting a Redbird 13-0 run that included back-to-back treys from McIntosh to make it 36-26.

It was more of the same in the second half as Illinois State had a 15-5 surge to go up 21 barely five minutes in.

Hawkins had 13 in the second half when the Redbirds shot 61 percent to finish at 57 (28 of 49).

Clayton Custer scored 17 points for the Ramblers (10-5, 0-2), who shot 41 percent.