11-Seed Loyola Chicago Comes Out On Top In Sweet 16 Slugfest.
Cinderella team continues to dance and rewrite the history books after everyone overlooked them.
The Ramblers of Loyola University-Chicago lock up defense and clutch time scoring give them their first Elite Eight berth since 1963 after defeating the University of Nevada Wolfpack 69–68, in the first NCAA D1 south regional matchup in Phillips Arena. Coming into today’s matchup the Ramblers hadn’t been to the sweet sixteen since 1985 and the Wolfpack made their second Sweet Sixteen appearance ever, with the first being in 2004.
The star studded twins of Nevada, Cody and Caleb Martin did all they could against the Ramblers defensive pressure. Mountain West player of the year Caleb Martin hit five three’s finishing with 21 points.
His brother Cody, who was Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year finished with 16 points, five assists, and three steals. Junior forward Jordan Caroline also pitched in big time for the Wolfpack as he finished the game with 19 points, nine of which came in the first half.
Loyola Chicago guard Marques Townes came up big time for the Ramblers in the hard fought win over the Wolfpack. Townes finished with 18 points and made key plays throughout including the game sealing 3-pointer with with seven seconds remaining on the clock. Junior guard Clayton Cluster also pitched in 15 points.
The game was played within a series of runs, which started with the Wolfpack going on a 12–4 run to start the game. As the two played out, the Ramblers stepped up the defense and chipped away at Nevada’s lead to walk away at the half up by four.
Head Coach Porter Moser made some second half lineup adjustments only playing his big man Cameron Krutwig for three minutes in the second half. The run roles reversed, as the Ramblers started the second half on an 8–0 just as the Wolfpack did to start the first half. Offensive play picked up for both teams in the second half as both programs began to increase their aggressiveness on the offensive side of the floor. The Ramblers were 93% from the field as they shot 14/15 with 6:58 left on the clock and were on fire throughout the second half.
Not long after the Ramblers hot start, the wolf pack went on a 12–2 run and tied that game at 59–59 with 4:06 left on the clock.
Ramblers forward Aundre Jackson came up huge in the second half as he imposed his will in the paint and hit a clutch three to put his team up by three with 2:57 remaining on the clock. Jackson finished the contest with 15 points and utilized his pump fake in the second half;
“Just the whole team was telling me, use my shot fakes because they’re jumping for everything. I should have got into it in the first half, but I didn’t, and then in the second half, it started working, and then I just started making points.”
Even though Townes didn’t have much of a scoring breakthrough in his first two games finished the game with 18 points and hit the game-winning shot to put the Ramblers up by four with seven seconds left on the clock. Coach Moser knew Townes could step up at any moment;
“You know, I didn’t look at it as Marques being quiet. He was a warrior. He made warrior plays that we see a lot on the tape, and it just happened to be different guys, different nights….These guys believe it, they defend, they do different things that we call them intangible plays, and Marques has been making them all tournament. And because of that mindset, he was ready to step in and do well today,”
Loyola will now have to bring that same mentality to their matchup Saturday night against Kansas State. Kansas state defeats Kentucky in the game following the Ramblers win. After busting sister Jeans bracket, Loyola-Chicago looks to keep hope alive and make it to the Final Four.
