Loyola Chicago stuns Illinois to reach Sweet 16
INDIANAPOLIS — 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.
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 quick-handed, 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-anddone for the Illini.
Loyola Chicago will next play either Oklahoma State or Oregon State, who played late Sunday in a game that ended after The Californian’s print deadline.
“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. A team that lives for easy buckets in transition got two fastbreak points.
Illinois’ 7-foot second-team All-American Kofi Cockburn finished with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, but worked hard for every shot against the pestering presence of Krutwig and Co.
Loyola’s handsy guards, Lucas Williamson (14 points) and Keith Clemons (two steals), kept first-team All-American Ayo Dosunmu from ever finding his comfort zone. He finished with nine points, 11 under his season average. Illini guard Trent Frazier went 1 for 10 for two points.
NO. 15 ORAL ROBERTS 81, NO. 7 FLORIDA 78
Oral Roberts pulled off yet another upset to become just the second No. 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the round of 16 with a victory over Florida.
Kevin Obanor and Max Abams carried the Golden Eagles out of an 11-point deficit to knock off No. 7 seed Florida. Oral Roberts, which opened the tournament with a stunning upset over No. 2 seed Ohio State, will next try to knock off No. 3 seed Arkansas next weekend.
NO. 3 ARKANSAS 68, NO. 6 TEXAS TECH 66
Justin Smith had 20 points and played a key role in a final-play defensive stop, helping Arkansas beat Texas Tech, securing the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in a quarter-century.
NO. 11 SYRACUSE 75, NO. 3 W. 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 Syracuse past 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. Huggins won No. 900 when West Virginia beat Morehead State in the first round on Friday. Boeheim got his 982nd at Huggins’ expense.
NO. 1 BAYLOR 76, NO. 9 WISCONSIN 63
Davion Mitchell scored 16 points and spearheaded a dominant defensive first half, helping Baylor avoid another NCAA Tournament upset with a win over Wisconsin.
NO. 2 HOUSTON 63, NO. 10 RUTGERS 60
Quentin Grimes scored 22 points, Tramon Mark converted a soaring threepoint play with 24 seconds left, and Houston beat Rutgers to reach the Sweet 16.
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 Cougars play No. 11 seed Syracuse next weekend for a spot in the Midwest Region finals.