Surprising Beavers obtain elite status
MIDWEST REGION SEMIFINAL OREGON STATE 65, LOYOLA-CHICAGO 58
INDIANAPOLIS — Picked to finish dead last in the Pac-12, Oregon State instead might be the last one standing.
Led by unflappable guard Ethan Thompson, whose 22 points included a pair of clinching foul shots with 35 seconds left, the No. 12 seed Beavers and their brilliant defense shut down eighth-seeded Loyola-Chicago in a 65-58 victory on Saturday that sent their long-suffering 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 shot Monday night at 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 lowest-seeded teams to advance past the Sweet 16. “We did use the fact we were picked 12th in the Pac-12 this year, 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 could help Loyola-Chicago 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 top-seeded Illinois, wound up shooting 33% from the floor and 5 of 23 from beyond the arc.
All-America forward Cameron Krutwig led the Ramblers with 14 points. Lucas Williamson and Braden Norris added 10 apiece, though both of them missed three-pointers in the closing minutes as Loyola-Chicago tried to rally.
“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-Chicago won 31-19 in Chicago — and Sister Jean, the Ramblers’ beloved 101-yearold chaplain, was still just a schoolgirl.
And for 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 61/2 minutes before making its first field goal and at one point was 1 of 8 with 4 turnovers. Then the Ramblers, who failed to take advantage of their defense, proceeded to miss 11 consecutive shots as Oregon State flipflopped 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 good looks.”
The Beavers wound up shutting out Loyola-Chicago the last 5:48 to take a 24-16 halftime lead, the lowest-scoring first half of the entire tournament. Krutwig was 3 of 5 from the floor; the rest of the Ramblers were 1 of 18.
You’d have sworn the Beavers sported the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense, not the other way around.
Oregon State built on Warith Alatishe’s buzzer-beating bucket to end the first half by getting some shots to go in the second. Thompson did most of the damage, hitting an early jumper, beating the shot clock with another fadeaway, then catching a Hail Mary heave to beat a full-court press and give the Beavers a 37-24 lead with 12 minutes to go.
Meanwhile, the Ramblers were hitting everything but the bottom of the bucket.
Williamson rimmed out three-pointers on back-toback trips down the floor. Tate Hall clanked a couple of free throws when that was about the only place they were scoring. Krutwig even had a baby hook go halfway down and right back out.
Even when the shots wouldn’t fall, Loyola-Chicago continued to play defense, and that kept the game close. And when Braden Norris knocked down a three-pointer and Aher Uguak tipped in an alley-oop with 2:43 to go, the Ramblers had trimmed their deficit to 49-44 and had the partisan crowd sitting mostly in the rafters of Bankers Life Fieldhouse cheering.
Kennedy hit a three-pointer to get the Ramblers within 51-47, then another shot to get within 53-49, but the Beavers kept finding answers. Lucas provided one with a three-pointer, Alatishe provided another from the foul line, and that was enough to keep the Pac-12’s dream tournament going into the Elite Eight.
“We’re not in charge of the rankings,” Thompson said. “You know, the preseason, all of that — all we can control is what we can control. That’s going out every night, having fun, giving it our all and trying to win the game. That’s it.”
HOUSTON 62, SYRACUSE 46
Quentin Grimes scored 14 points while Houston’s defense locked down on surging Buddy Boeheim, helping the Cougars beat Syracuse.
Justin Gorham had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Cougars, who pushed through to their first trip to a regional final in 37 years, earning a matchup with Oregon State for the Midwest Region title and a spot in the Final Four.
The Cougars also got a strong allaround effort from DeJon Jarreau, who finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists while leading the defensive effort that kept Boeheim in check — and ultimately derailed the 11th-seeded Orange’s latest postseason push as a double-digit seed.
Houston (27-3) came in holding opponents to a national-low 37.3% shooting, and then harassed Syracuse (18-10) into just 28% (14 for 50), including a 5-for-23 performance from three-point range.
The focus was making every look difficult for Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim’s son, who had been on a tear through four games in the ACC and NCAA Tournament to earn the nickname “Buddy Buckets.”
The 6-6 junior had averaged 28.3 points through those games, which included him shooting 60% from the floor and 55.8% from three-point range.
Things weren’t nearly so easy Saturday.
Jarreau spent much of the night chasing Boeheim, hovering in his shadow on the perimeter, staying right on his hip on drives and swiping at the ball as Boeheim secured catches. Boeheim managed just one first-half basket and finished with 12 points on 3-for-13 shooting, including 1 for 9 from threepoint range.