Loyola-Chicago gets lost on way to practice

ATLANTA – If you’ve never been to downtown Atlanta, it can be easy to miss Philips Arena. For one thing, it’s connected to the massive CNN Center, so it’s not a standalone building. It also sits atop a gulch with parking and team entrances underneath, which can be confusing.

Still, you’d think the NCAA tournament would have gotten its plans down for transporting teams from their hotels for practices Wednesday before the South Region semifinals. Unfortunately for Loyola-Chicago, apparently some kinks needed to be worked out. Loyola coach Porter Moser was steaming mad when the Ramblers finally arrived at Philips Arena about a half-hour after originally intended. The team’s police escort never showed up, and the bus driver circled the area trying to find the right entrance.

“No one knew how to get here,” Moser said. “It was a 35-, 40-minute (trip) but you overcome. I told our guys, it’s our first thing to overcome. It’s like getting a couple turnovers early, you put it behind you and overcome.”

Loyola didn’t lose any practice time, but it was an inconvenience — and a baffling one, given that the bus route should have been well-established.

“Atlanta is beautiful, and we got to see all the sights,” Loyola guard Ben Richardson said. “That’s how I’m going to take it in as a chance to see the sights. But we got in here and we got after it once we got going.”

— Dan Wolken