FINAL FOUR BOUND
Loyola-chicago guard Marques Townes dribbles past Kansas State guard Kamau Stokes during the second half of Saturday’s regional final in Atlanta.
Sister Jean donned a Final Four cap and flashed a big smile. When asked how she was feeling, she gave a thumbs-up that said it all.
Joining the celebration were several members of the Ramblers’ 1963 national championship team, which played one of the most socially significant games in college basketball history on its way to the title. It was known as the “Game of Change,” matching the Ramblers and their mostly black roster against an all-white Mississippi State team at the height of the civil rights movement, setting up an even more noteworthy contest three years later. Texas Western, with five African-american starters, defeated Kentucky in the national championship game.
Les Hunter, a member of that ’63 team, said these Ramblers are capable of bringing home another title.
“I think they’re the best right now,” Hunter said. “They work so well together. They can play with anybody – anybody – right now.”
Even with a title on their resume, this performance came out of nowhere.
Loyola had not made the tournament since 1985 until they broke the drought by winning the Missouri Valley Conference.
Then, as if benefiting from some sort of divine intervention, the Ramblers won their first three tournament games by a total of four points.
Finally, with the Final Four on the line, they turned in a thoroughly dominating performance.
Not the least bit intimidated, Loyola came out in attack mode right from the start against a ninth-seeded Kansas State team that rode a stifling defense to the regional final. Moving the ball just as you’d expect from a veteran squad with two seniors and two fourth-year juniors in the starting lineup, the Ramblers kept getting open looks and shot 56 percent in the opening half, opening up a 36-24 lead.
The Ramblers really turned it on in the second half.
Richardson swished a 3-pointer as he was fouled by Kamau Stokes, winding up flat on his back, smiling from ear to ear with his arms raised above his head.
He knocked down the free throw to complete the four-point play, stretching the lead to 44-29.
Things went so well for the Ramblers that they actually increased their lead during the first television timeout of the second half. The officials went back and reviewed a replay of Donte Ingram’s jumper in the opening minute of the period, ruling he was behind the 3-point line when he released the shot to change the margin from 46-33 to 47-33.
Not that it mattered at the end.
The Ramblers are headed to San Antonio next Saturday to meet Michigan. They will try to become the lowest-seeded team to win a national championship, a distinction held by Villanova’s eighth-seeded team in 1985. Michigan 58, Florida State 54
LOS ANGELES – With more defensive will than shooting skill, Michigan muscled its way back to the Final Four.
Charles Matthews Michigan guard Charles Matthews shoots against Florida State forward Mfiondu Kabengele during Saturday’s West Regional final in Los Angeles. The Wolverines won 58-54 and will meet Loyola in the Final Four next Saturday in San Antonio.
scored 17 points and Michigan earned its first Final Four berth since 2013 with a victory over Florida State in the West Region final.
Moe Wagner added 12 points as the Wolverines (32-7) earned their 13th consecutive victory by persevering through a defensedominated second half and holding off a late charge from the Seminoles (23-12), who had already knocked off three higher-seeded opponents on their school’s
longest NCAA Tournament run since 1993.
With tenacious defense and just enough made free throws down the stretch, Michigan hung on and advanced to San Antonio, Texas, next weekend to face the underdog heroes of Loyola-chicago (32-5), who stunned the sport by winning the South Region.
The third-seeded Wolverines are much less of a surprise, but the achievement is no less impressive for coach John Beilein’s squad, which wore its “Do More, Say Less” shirts throughout the week.
In fact, Michigan let its fans do the talking: The Wolverines had a distinct home-court advantage from thousands of vocal fans packed into the lower bowl of Staples Center, and they seemed to need all of those cheers to survive an off shooting night.
“I said we’re shooting 33 percent,” Beilein said. “That might change in the second half, but at the same time, we’ve got to understand we may not make shots, (but) we’re still going to win the game with our defense. We’ve just got to hang in there, don’t give them second shots, try and take away the 3 ball, the drive. We did a great job on defense.”
Phil Cofer scored 16 points for the ninth-seeded Seminoles (23-13), who couldn’t match their late rally past top-seeded Xavier last week because they simply couldn’t score consistently, going 7 for 30 from the field in the second half.