Wichita State will play Loyola in their first game of Arch Madness.

The Ramblers defeated Bradley 74-66 on Thursday.

“It wasn’t a pretty effort, but as anybody who’s been in these tournament settings knows, that doesn’t matter,” Loyola head coach Porter Moser said.

Loyola forward Montel James snagged a game-high 17 rebounds, 14 came on the defensive end. James also led all scorers with 20 points.  

Donte Ingram scored 19 points and Ben Richardson recorded six steals.

Wichita State swept Loyola in the regular-season series. WSU defeated Loyola by an average of 24 points, and last defeated Loyola on Feb. 24.

“We’re not going to dwell on this game, we’re just going to move forward and do everything we can to prepare our game plan against them,” James said. “Wichita State is a very good team. With them, we’ve got to go into tomorrow with the mindset that anything could happen.”

James led his team in rebounds for the fifth straight game. He posted double-digit rebounds in each of the last four games.

In Chicago, Ron Baker posted a game-high 19 points and Anton Grady scored 17 points and snagged five rebounds. For Loyola, James scored a team-high 14 points, 10 came from the free throw line. The Shockers won by 22 points.

“When we lost to them twice previously, we didn’t play know how well we could play,” Loyola guard Donte Ingram said.  

Ingram scored two points in the loss to the Shockers. The Ramblers shot 36 percent from the field, including 17 percent from three-point range in the second half. They coughed up 14 turnovers in each game and failed to reach 60 points, tallying 54 points in each game.

“The other nine teams are all coming here with one goal, and that’s to be in the NCAA Tournament,” WSU head coach Gregg Marshall said. “Everything now is one-and-done. That magnifies the intensity.”

The Shockers tip at noon at the Scottrade Center, the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.