One and nun: Loyola tops Illinois
Ramblers knock off No. 1 Illini, book another trip to Sweet 16
If the pregame prayer sounded more like a scouting report, it was. And if Sister Jean didn’t have any plans for next weekend, well, she does now.
NCAAM TOURNAMENT
Loyola Chicago carried out its 101-year-old superfan’s plans to a T on Sunday, moving to the Sweet 16 with a 71-58 win over Illinois, the first No. 1 seed bounced from this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Cameron Krutwig delivered a 19-point, 12-rebound masterpiece and the quickhanded, eighth-seeded Ramblers (26-4) led wire to wire. They befuddled a powerful Illinois offense to return to the second weekend three years after their last magical run to the Final Four.
A hard habit to break for these Ramblers. And a classic case of nun-and-done for the Illini.
Loyola Chicago will next play either Oklahoma State or Oregon State.
“We just executed, played our game and controlled the game from the start,” Krutwig said. “Nobody was really doing anything out of body or out of mind. We just stuck to the game plan.” Who wrote it?
Some of Loyola’s wisdom comes from Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the venerable team chaplain, who headlined the team’s 2018 run to the Final Four and received both COVID-19 vaccination shots so she could travel to Indianapolis to see what inspiration she could provide in 2021.
Before taking in this game from the luxury suite — sitting in her wheelchair and decked out in her trademark maroon and gold scarf — Jean delivered a pregame prayer that could’ve been stripped straight from a John Wooden handbook.
“As we play the Fighting Illini, we ask for special help to overcome this team and get a great win,” she said. “We hope to score early and make our opponents nervous. We have a great opportunity to convert rebounds as this team makes about 50% of layups and 30% of its 3 points. Our defense can take care of that.”
From her mouth to their ears.
Illinois (24-7) earned top seeding for the first time since its own Final Four run in 2005, but fell behind by 14 in the first half and never got within striking range. The Illini committed 16 turnovers and scored 23 points fewer than their season average.
Oral Roberts 81, Florida 78 —
Oral Roberts became just the second No. 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the round of 16, sending No. 7 seed Florida home.
Oral Roberts opened the tournament by stunning No. 2 seed Ohio State.
Kevin Obanor and Max Abams carried the Golden Eagles out of an 11-point deficit. Obanor scored 28 points and Abmas, the regular season national leading scorer, finished with 26 as the Golden Eagles (18-10) closed the game on a 25-11 run to overcome the 11-point lead Florida held with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Oral Roberts joins Florida Gulf Coast — those guys from Dunk City — as the only No. 15 seeds to reach the round of 16.
Tre Mann led the Gators (15-10) with 19 points.
Syracuse 75, West Virginia 72 — Buddy Boeheim carried his father, Jim, to the Hall of Fame coach’s 20th Sweet 16 appearance, scoring 22 of his 25 points after halftime to lead 11th-seeded Syracuse past third-seeded West Virginia.
Jim Boeheim’s Orange got the better of another legend, Bob Huggins, in the second March Madness meeting between coaches with at least 900 Division I victories.
Syracuse (18-9) advanced to face second-seeded Houston in a Midwest Regional semifinal.
BuddyBoeheim erupted in the second half, when he made all but one of his six 3-pointers. He finished 6 of 13 from deep and 8 of 17 overall, and he helped put the game away with three late free throws.
Sean McNeil scored 23 points to lead the Mountaineers (19-10).
Arkansas 68, Texas Tech 66 — Justin Smith had 20 points and played a key role in a final-play defensive stop, helping Arkansas secure the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in a 25 years.
In the final seconds of a tense finish, Smith found himself defending Kyler Edwards beyond the 3-point arc. Edwards drove into the paint with Smith on his hip and missed a layup, with Arkansas guard JD Notae snagging the rebound and sprinting up court to run the final seconds out and send Arkansas’ reserves spilling onto the court to celebrate.
Star freshman Moses Moody had 11 of his 15 points after halftime for the Razorbacks, who led by 13 points after halftime only to have the sixth-seeded Red Raiders twice whittle that margin to a single point. And that came after Arkansas had climbed of its own doublefigure deficit, down 10 in the first half.
Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 20 points for Texas Tech (18-11), which struggled with its shot for a long stretch only to regain its touch right as Arkansas seemed poised to pull away.
The Red Raiders climbed back with an 11-0 run, which included Chibuzo Agbo banking in a straightaway 3-pointer to bring Texas Tech within 58-57 with 5:30 left. Fittingly, Moody answered that improbable shot with one of his own, banking in a contested 3 off a crossover on the next possession.
The Red Raiders — finalists in the 2019 tournament — also had two late chances to take the lead in the final 2 minutes. But Mac McClung missed the front end of a 1-and-1 at the line with 1:15 left in a 67-66 game, and then Shannon missed a shot inside with about 30 seconds left on the next possession.
Baylor 76, Wisconsin 63 —
Davion Mitchell scored 16 points and spearheaded a dominant defensive first half, helping top-seeded Baylor avoid another NCAA Tournament upset.
The knock on Baylor entering the NCAA Tournament was that the Bears weren’t quite as good coming off their second COVID19 pause as they were while winning the first 18 games of the season.
Baylor didn’t look quite as unstoppable after the pause, the hands and feet not quite as quick while losing two of the final six games.
The Bears (24-2) found their defensive groove in the first half against Wisconsin, looking every bit a Final Four favorite not long after Illinois became the first No. 1 seed to bow out of the bracket.
The Badgers (18-13) showed a bit of fight after being backed into an 18point corner, rallying to within seven midway through the second half behind D’Mitrik Trice (12 points).
The Bears answered the run with a dash of more D to reach the Sweet 16 for the fifth time under coach Scott Drew. They’ll get Villanova next.
Houston 63, Rutgers 60 — Quentin Grimes scored 22 points, Tramon Mark converted a soaring three-point play with 24 seconds left, and Houston beat Rutgers.
DaJon Jarreau overcame a series of bumps and bruises to score a key bucket down the stretch and finished with 17 points for second-seeded Houston (26-3).
The 10th-seeded Scarlet Knights (16-12) still had a chance after Mark’s free throws, but Geo Baker turned the ball over and Marcus Sasser made two more to extend the lead. Rutgers rushed back up the floor and Ron Harper Jr. let fly a potential tying 3 from the wing that clanked off the side of the rim as the final buzzer sounded.
Baker finished with 14 points for Rutgers but was holding back tears following his late turnover.
Villanova 84, North Texas 61 — Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scored 18 points, Jermaine Samuels Jr. had 15 and Villanova knocked down 15 3-pointers, emphatically ending 13th-seeded North Texas’ bid for a second NCAA Tournament upset.
The fifth-seeded Wildcats (18-6) move on to the Sweet 16 to face top-seeded Baylor. Villanova will play the second weekend of the tournament for the third time in the last five. Coach Jay Wright’s team won the whole thing the last two times it got this far in 2016 and ‘18.
These Wildcats are not considered a serious national championship contender — but they seemed to channel those title teams in the first half against the Conference USA champions at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
With quick ball movement and excellent spacing, the Wildcats went 9 for 15 from 3-point range for in the first half and finished the first 20 minutes on a 34-6 run. And that was it for North Texas.
A stifling defensive performance by the Mean Green got them into the second round, upsetting No. 4-seed Purdue for the first NCAA Tournament victory in school history.
Villanova finished 15 for 30 from 3-point range, with Cole Swider (nine points) and Caleb Daniels (11 points) each hitting three.
Javion Hamlet scored 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting, but the rest of the Mean Green (18-10) made only 13 field goals.