Who’s Hot …
Oregon State’s defense shuts down Loyola Chicago to keep Pac-12 hot
OREGON STATE:
A month ago, the Beavers were 11-11. Now, the team picked to finish last in the Pac12 is going to the Elite Eight. A big reason: Free-throwing shooting. They are 56 for 65 (86.1%) in their first three games.
INDIANAPOLIS — Picked to finish dead last in the Pac-12 Conference, Oregon State instead might be the last one standing.
Led by unflappable guard Ethan Thompson, whose 20 points included two clinching free throws with 35 seconds left, the No. 12-seeded Beavers and their brilliant defense shut down eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago in a 65-58 victory Saturday that sent their longsuffering program into the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
It’s Oregon State’s first regional final since 1982 — one that was later vacated by the NCAA — and sets up a showdown with second-seeded Houston or No. 10 seed Syracuse Monday night for a spot in its first Final Four since 1963.
“They just want to keep riding the wave,” said Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle, whose hungry bunch of underdogs have matched Missouri in 2002 as the highest-numbered seeded teams to advance past the Sweet 16.
“We did use the fact we were picked 12th in the Pac-12 this year,” Tinkle added, “but we haven’t made a big deal about the 12th seed. I don’t want to throw too much at them. They’ll see it. We just have to keep our feet on the ground.”
That’s getting harder to do with each passing day.
Not even the fervent prayers of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt could help Loyola deal with the Beavers (20-12) and the constantly changing defenses that Tinkle rolled out. The Ramblers (26-5), who played with such poise and perfection in toppling topseeded Illinois, wound up shooting 33% from the field and 5 of 23 from beyond the arc.
All-America forward Cameron Krutwig led Loyola with 14 points. Lucas Williamson and Braden Norris added 10 apiece, though both of them missed 3-pointers in the closing minutes as Loyola tried to mounta comeback.
“Very hard scene in our locker room,” said Ramblers coach Porter Moser, whose name has surfaced in connection with several major conference jobs. “Kids cared so much, invested so much. Very tough when it comes to an
end.”
It was the second meeting between the teams and first since Dec. 31, 1927, when Loyola won, 31-19, in Chicago — and Sister Jean, the Ramblers’ beloved 101-year-old chaplain, was still just a schoolgirl.
Andfor most of Saturday, it looked as if 31 points would be plenty.
Oregon State turned it over twice before getting off a shot, went nearly 6½ minutes before making its first field goal and at one point was 1 of 8 with four turnovers. Then the Ramblers, who failed to take advantage of their defense, proceeded to miss 11 consecutive shots as Oregon State flip
-flopped between man-to-man and zone defenses.
“We kind of let them slow us down a little bit,” Krutwig said. “Honestly, we got a lot of goodlooks.”
Add Oregon State to the relatively short list of double digit seeds that have reached a regional final in the NCAA tournament. The Beavers became the 18th team seeded 10th or lower to reach the Elite Eight since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Tinkle’s team is the second No. 12 seed to make a regional final, joining Missouri in 2002. Those Tigers ended up losing to No. 2 Oklahoma, 81-75, in the regional final.