Going into the final week of the regular season, conventional wisdom had Missouri State and Indiana State battling for the No. 6 seed for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Loyola crashed the party on Sunday afternoon at JQH Arena, jumping into a three-way tie for sixth place in the league standings with a 75-62 victory over Missouri State before an announced crowd of 3,385.
The Bears (11-17, 7-9) led 36-32 early in the second half, but Loyola (14-14, 7-9) went on an 11-3 run to take the lead for good, and a 9-0 run midway through the half gave the Ramblers a 66-50 lead.