Loyola basketball facing mirror image in Final Four matchup with Michigan
The feel-good story Loyola basketball team is set for the Final Four, but unlike previous rounds, the Michigan Wolverines will present some new challenges.
Nothing has come easy for Loyola basketball during this NCAA Tournament run, and now the Ramblers are set to take on the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four – a team who looks and plays very much like Loyola.
The early game of this year’s Final Four will featured two teams who somewhat flew under the radar this season. No. 11 seed Loyola — simply by the fact that they play in the Missouri Valley Conference — and No. 3 seed Michigan, who many ignored while focusing on Michigan State and Ohio State.
The similarities don’t end at both teams being mild surprise entrants into the Final Four. Physically and statistically, these two teams are mirror images of each other.
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Points per game: Loyola -72, Michigan – 74
Rebounds per game: Loyola – 32, Michigan – 33
Assists per game: Loyola – 16, Michigan – 15
Blocks per game: Loyola – 2, Michigan – 3
The opposing players themselves even tend to look similar.
Loyola’s leading scorer — Clayton Custer — averages 13.2 ppg, with a .527 fg%, a .757 ft%, shooting 45 percent from 3-point range.
Michigan’s leading scorer — Moritz Wagner — averages 14.3 ppg, with a 524 fg%, a .696 ft%, shooting 40 percent from 3-point range.
Both teams have relied on a fast-paced game and some lights out shooting from the outside to keep opponents at arms length, and both teams move the ball exceptionally well, keeping stand-still iso offense to a minimum.
Even the coaches have some common ground, both being vastly underrated in their respective positions after taking over programs which were struggling and leading them to regular season conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths over their careers.
So where do the Ramblers have an advantage which could make a difference in the game against Michigan? In one of the most basic aspects of basketball. A stat which tells the tale in so many games, particularly during the tournaments.
Free throws.
The Ramblers average 16.6 free throws per game, hitting on 72 percent of the attempts. Michigan averages 17.4 free throws per game, but only has a 66 percent success rate. While that might seems a minor difference, those few percentage points mean a lot more missed free throws over the course of a season.
To make the free throw stat even more important, Loyola has only committed an average of 14 personal fouls per game this season as well as during the NCAA Tournament, while Michigan has averaged 15.8 fouls this season, almost 18 per game during the NCAA Tournament. This means the Wolverines are more likely to put Loyola in the bonus in any given half.
Everything on paper points to a game which will come down to the wire between two teams who want to do exactly the same thing. Making or missing free throws could be the difference in the game and in who goes on to the national championship game.
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The Ramblers could find themselves heading to the championship game based on how well they sink the ball from the charity stripe. If pitching and defense wins baseball titles, then rebounding and free throws can win you a basketball championship.