Loyola upsets No. 1 Illinois, into Sweet 16
Loyola Chicago carried out 101-year-old superfan Sister Jean’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, eighthseeded 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.
The Ramblers will next play either Oklahoma State or Oregon State in a Midwest Regional semifinal.
Their 2018 trip to the Final Four was headlined by Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the venerable team chaplain, who received both COVID-19 vaccination shots and clearance to travel to Indianapolis to see what inspiration she could provide in 2021. Jean delivered a pregame prayer that could’ve been stripped straight from a John Wooden handbook.
Illinois (24-7) earned top seeding for the first time since its own Final Four run in 2005, but fell behind by double digits in the first half and never got within striking range. The Illini committed 16 turnovers and scored 23 points fewer than their season average.
Illinois’ 7-foot second-team AllAmerican Kofi Cockburn finished with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, but worked hard for every shot.
And Loyola’s handsy guards, Lucas Williamson and Keith Clemons, kept first-team All-American Ayo Dosunmu from ever finding his comfort zone. He finished with nine points, 11 under his season average.
South
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 with a 76-63 win over Wisconsin on Sunday.
Not long after Illinois became the first No. 1 seed to bow out, the Bears (242) looked every bit a Final Four favorite in the first half, smothering Wisconsin with the type of defensive pressure they played before a late-season COVID-19 pause.
The Badgers (18-13) showed a bit of fight after being backed into an 18-point 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 or North Texas next.
SATURDAY GAMES
ABILENE CHRISTIAN 53, TEXAS 52 >> Abilene Christian and its frantic, havoccausing defense bounced coach Shaka Smart and Texas out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round yet again, as the 14thseeded Wildcats stunned the third-seeded Longhorns 53-52 on Saturday night.
Joe Pleasant, a 58.8% foul shooter on the season, made two free throws with 1.2 seconds
left, and the Wildcats took down their in-state rivals in the first meeting between the schools.
Pulling off one final upset in a first round filled with two years’ worth of excitement, Abilene Christian became the fourth team seeded 13th or lower to reach the round of 32 in this NCAA Tournament.
The pesky Wildcats caused headaches for the bigger, more talented Longhorns all night and got just enough offense to earn their first NCAA Tournament victory in their second appearance.
Pleasant finished with 11 points as did Coryon Mason for the Wildcats, who forced
23 turnovers. Abilene Christian (24-4) will face No. 11 seed UCLA in the second round Monday.
Andrew Jones scored 13 points for Texas (19-8) and was nearly the hero. Jones hit two free throws with 56 seconds left and his 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining put the Longhorns in front 52-51.
ACU had one more chance. Damien Daniels drove to the basket but his shot was blocked by Kai Jones. Pleasant grabbed the rebound and Matt Coleman III was called for a foul. Pleasant stepped to the line and calmly sank both, then picked off Texas’ final desperation pass at midcourt
to hand the Longhorns their third first-round exit under Smart.
BYU 73, UCLA 62 >> Johnny Juzang poured in 27 points in his second big game of the NCAA Tournament, Jules Bernard provided a big second-half lift, and No 11 seed UCLA beat sixthseeded BYU.
Bernard finished with 16 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 13 for the Bruins (19-9), who survived a First Four scare from Michigan State and will now play for a spot in the Sweet 16.
It was the first win for UCLA in regulation since handling Utah on Feb. 25.
Alex Barcello led the Cougars (20-7) with 20 points, most of them coming as Mark Pope’s team tried to rally from a 38-27 halftime deficit. Brandon Averette added 15 points and Matt Haarms finished with 11 points and 10 boards as BYU — which fell to Gonzaga in the Mountain West finals — suffered back-toback losses for the first time in 60 games.
GONZAGA 98, NORFOLK STATE 55 >> Corey Kispert scored 15 of his 23 points by halftime and No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga rolled in its opener, beating Norfolk State.
Anton Watson had 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting for the Bulldogs (27-0), who shook off a slow few opening minutes and easily handled the 16th-seeded MidEastern Athletic Conference champions.
OHIO 62, VIRGINIA 58 >> Virginia’s unusual title defense ended with another upset loss, falling 62-58 to Jason Preston and Ohio.
The fourth-seeded Cavaliers struggled to score during a key stretch in the second half and shot 35% from the field for the game. Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to drop its opening game in the NCAA Tournament when it lost to UMBC in 2018, but it used the setback as motivation in its run to the championship in 2019.
Last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the pandemic, delaying the Cavaliers’ title defense. They just arrived in Indiana on Friday because of COVID-19 issues, and now they are heading home again.
Preston and Ben Vander Plas delivered for Ohio (177) after leading the Bobcats to the Mid-American Conference Tournament title. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 72, DRAKE 56 >> Evan Mobley had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 6 seed Southern California used smothering defense to beat Drake.
Mobley, a 7-foot freshman forward and AP second-team All-American expected to be a lottery pick if he declares for the draft, made 7 of 15 field goals and blocked three shots. KANSAS 73, EASTERN WASHINGTON 84 >> David McCormack returned from his COVID-19-caused hiatus just in time to rescue No. 3 seed Kansas, piling up 22 points and nine rebounds as the slow-starting Jayhawks rallied from a 10-point secondhalf deficit to beat No. 14 seed Eastern Washington. ALABAMA 68, IONA 55 >> Herb Jones scored 20 points and second-seeded Alabama pried open a tight game to beat coach Rick Pitino’s underdogs from Iona. MICHIGAN 82, TEXAS SOUTHERN 66 >> Juwan Howard won his first NCAA Tournament game since taking over as Michigan’s coach, guiding Mike Smith and the top-seeded Wolverines past Texas Southern.
Smith scored 18 points and Hunter Dickinson added 16 as Michigan rolled into the second round without Isaiah Livers, who is out with a foot injury. Eli Brooks and Brandon Johns Jr. had 11 points apiece.