2018 Final Four: Loyola-Chicago Ramblers enter uncharted territory
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Loyola Ramblers are still dancing. Yes, the slipper still fits. They are dancing all the way to San Antonio to duel the winner of the Florida State-Michigan game in the Final Four.
The Loyola Ramblers had a rather tight squeeze over the Nevada Wolf Pack Thursday night. However, things were different Saturday evening. With a lead that got as large as 23, they defeated the Kansas State Wildcats, 78-62.
In the victory over Nevada the Ramblers had great contributions from Marques Townes, Clayton Custer and Aundre Jackson. While Townes had a solid game, this was all about Ben Richardson.
The senior sniper is shooting from distance as well as he did last year (36.8 percent from three this season versus 42.3 percent last year). Tonight, he was simply a nightmare for the Wildcats. He poured in a career-high 23 points (7-of-10 FG, 6-of-7 from distance).
To put his impact into perspective, he made only one of his nine three-point attempts all tournament. Once his first few went down, there wasn’t a whole lot else Kansas State could do. As a team, they went 6-of-25 from beyond the arc.
As a team, Loyola was deadly from the field:
Loyola has shot 47%, 50%, 56% and 57% in this tournament. I know they were insanely efficient all year, but this is WILD in this setting for this team.
— Jason Patt (@Bulls_Jay) March 25, 2018
I would be remiss if I left out Cameron Krutwig. The freshman from Algonquin, Illinois made his presence felt with a 9-point, 7-rebound game. In a strange instance of both teams trotting out four and five guard sets, his rebounding and screen-setting proved invaluable.
On to San Antonio…
Only a few 11-seeds have made it this far in March Madness. LSU was the first to go in 1986. Then, George Mason went on a memorable run in 2006. Most recently, VCU went in 2011. Now, Loyola-Chicago has become the fourth.
To go a step further, the lowest seed to win the tournament was the 1985 Villanova Wildcats, an 8-seed.
While this victory certainly feels sweet, there is no reason to be complacent. Whoever wins the Seminoles-Wolverines matchup wins the West Region and will be yet another steep test.
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Regardless, the Loyola Ramblers are on a mission from God.
And when you have God on your side, you fear no one.