by Carter Brantley
Jayden Reid missed the free throw intentionally, and Jamille Reynolds hauled in the offensive rebound.
He put up a last second shot to potentially tie the game at 74 and send it into overtime.
The ball rattled around, and unfortunately didn’t fall through the net.
That was the final play of USF’s close 74-72 loss on the road to Loyola Chicago Saturday afternoon.
The Bulls played a tremendous half, taking a 38-35 lead to the break with Reid and forward Kasen Jennings leading the way with 10 points each.
Reid finished the game with a team-leading 23 points, continuing his scorching hot play with a 4th consecutive game as USF’s leading scorer.
He also contributed 7 boards and 4 assists, the latter leading the team in that category.
Reynolds brought in a team-high 11 boards in addition to 12 points, notching his 3rd double-double of the season.
What ended up costing USF was the high turnover total for the game; the Bulls ended up with 16 for the day compared to the Ramblers’ 6.
So despite posting a significant advantage in field goal efficiency and a slight edge on the boards, the Bulls lost a close game, where every mistake is put under a microscope.
Loyola Chicago had 4 players with double digit scoring totals on their way to continuing their undefeated season.
Des Watson led the Ramblers with 14 points.
The loss dropped the Bulls’ record to 5-4 for the season.
Their next contest will be next Saturday, another road game with this matchup coming against undefeated Utah State.
