Loyola Of Chicago Faces Michigan In The Final Four In San Antonio
Loyola Of Chicago will face Michigan who is a member of the Big Ten Conference and in the west region will take on Loyola Of Chicago who is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference for a chance to advance and play for a national title in San Antonio against either top seeded Kansas or top seeded Villanova.
As for how Loyola Of Chicago out of the Missouri Valley Conference got to the Final Four they defeated Kansas State
Loyola University Chicago (32-5) jumped out to an early double-figure lead and never looked back as it defeated Kansas State (25-12) by a final score of 78-62 in the NCAA South Region final this evening at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Ga. to secure a spot in next weekend's NCAA Final Four. The Ramblers will be making their first Final Four appearance since winning the 1963 National Championship. "according to http://www.loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-loyola-races-past-kansas-state-to-advance-to-ncaa-final-four-78-62.aspx
How It Happened
As was the case on Thursday night, Cameron Krutwig got Loyola off and running, finishing inside to put the Ramblers on the board first, 2-0, just 23 seconds in. Following a Barry Brown jumper that gave Kansas State a 5-4 edge, two threes from Ben Richardson provided the bookends to an 11-0 Loyola run that had the Ramblers racing back in front, 15-5. "according to http://www.loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-loyola-races-past-kansas-state-to-advance-to-ncaa-final-four-78-62.aspx
Xavier Sneed connected on a corner triple to trim Loyola's lead to 21-14 but the Ramblers answered right back, with layups from Lucas Williamson and Krutwig, respectively, pushing the lead to 11, 25-14, at the 8:54 mark. The Wildcats battled back to within 27-22 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Brown but Loyola again answered, with a Krutwig three-point play of his own reestablishing an 11-point margin, 33-22. Richardson's third three of the half sent Loyola charging into the locker room with a 36-24 advantage. "according to http://www.loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-loyola-races-past-kansas-state-to-advance-to-ncaa-final-four-78-62.aspx
Loyola kept its foot on the gas coming out of halftime. Ingram knocked down a three on Loyola's opening possession of the second stanza before Richardson converted a four-point play with 16:54 remaining to extend the lead to 45-29. Clayton Custer drained his first triple of the evening with just over five minutes gone as part of a 7-0 run that widened the gap to 52-33 and forced a Kansas State timeout at the 14:06 mark. "according to http://www.loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-loyola-races-past-kansas-state-to-advance-to-ncaa-final-four-78-62.aspx
A reverse layup by Lucas Williamson gave Loyola its largest lead of the night, 61-38, with just under 10 minutes to play in regulation. Kansas State refused to go away as it chipped its deficit down to 64-52 on a second-chance score by Amaad Wainright with 4:17 remaining. Marques Townes put away any hopes of a Wildcat comeback as he finished off a three-point play to stretch the lead back out to 69-52 as Loyola secured its spot in the NCAA Final Four. "according to http://www.loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-loyola-races-past-kansas-state-to-advance-to-ncaa-final-four-78-62.aspx
Looking At The Numbers
- Richardson scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting and connected on a career-best six threes.
- Townes added 13 points, while Ingram chipped in 12 points to round out a trio to reach double figures in scoring.
- Loyola shot 57 percent (27-of-47) from the field, while holding Kansas State to only 35 percent (23-of-66) efficiency.
- Sneed finished with 16 points to lead Kansas State."according to http://www.loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-loyola-races-past-kansas-state-to-advance-to-ncaa-final-four-78-62.aspx
As for how Michigan got to this point they edged Florida State in the Elite Eight.
The University of Michigan men's basketball team set a single-season school record with its 32nd win and advanced to its eighth Final Four as the third-seeded Wolverines won a defensive gem over No. 9 seed Florida State by a score of 58-54 Saturday night (March 24) at the Staples Center."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
Leading by 10 with 2:25 to play, Michigan (32-7) survived a torrid FSU comeback thanks to the heady play of point guard Zavier Simpson "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
and the shooting touch of Duncan Robinson, who closed out the game at the foul line."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
Michigan led at the halftime break, 27-26, following a physical first half in which it forced 14 FSU turnovers."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
FSU scored on a quick jumper to start the second half, but U-M rattled off seven straight, keyed by the incredible play of Charles Matthews, who drained a triple and showed resiliency in the lane with a put-back bucket for his 15th point and a 34-28 lead with 15:49 to play. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
Coming out of the media timeout, U-M forced two more empty possessions and capitalized with layups to take a 38-28 lead with 14:20 to go."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
FSU went on a 9-2 run capped by a traditional three-point play from Phil Cofer before U-M regained its footing. With 8:25 to go, Moritz Wagner showed great effort as he outreached three FSU players for a rebound, put-back and the foul. His free throw gave the Wolverines a 45-38 edge as play went to the under-8:00 media timeout."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
A wild segment gave FSU momentum as the Seminoles got away with a goaltending call and Wagner was whistled for a crucial blocking foul, his fourth of the game. FSU scored four times from the line, but Simpson ended the slide with a savvy feed to Jon Teske on the break for a 47-42 lead with five minutes to play. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
FSU was put into the double bonus with 4:15 remaining and narrowed the margin at the line to 47-44 before a patient, twisting jumper in the lane from Matthews put the margin back to five. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
Coming out of the under-4:00 timeout, Simpson was a spark, driving for a nifty layup, then driving and dishing to Robinson in the corner for a huge triple and a 54-44 lead with 2:15 to play.
FSU regrouped and opted to foul to send Michigan to the line. The strategy worked well as Michigan faltered from the stripe and FSU scored five straight. Then, following 1-of-2 at the free throw line from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, PJ Savoy connected for a crucial triple to make it a 55-52 game with 1:16 to play. Following a 1-of-2 mark at the stripe from Simpson, Cofer got a tip-in to make it a 57-54 game. FSU was forced to foul Robinson with 21 seconds left, and the deft shooter was again true, sinking both for the final margin. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
By the time the score had settled, Michigan had limited FSU to a 23 percent shooting mark in the second half (7-of-30) and 31 percent for the game (16-51). FSU stayed in the game thanks to an 18-of-20 mark at the free throw line."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
Matthews, who led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds, was named most outstanding player of the West Regional. Wagner finished with 12 points, and Simpson delivered nine points (4-8 FG) and five assists against just one turnovers. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
Florida State (23-12) was led by Cofer's 16 points (6-12 FG) and 12 rebounds while Savoy had 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
As it did in the round of 16, Michigan came out clicking, staking its claim to a 10-4 lead at the 16:48 mark when FSU's defense sagged off Abdur-Rahkman too much at the top of the arc and he connected from deep. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
U-M turned five early FSU turnovers into seven points and rode the strong start of Matthews, who made 3-of-4 early including two emphatic dunks, for a 15-10 lead. The Wolverines forced 14 FSU turnovers in the first half but were not nearly as successful converting them into points the rest of the way as the higher-seeded team committed eight miscues of its own."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
At the 10:32 mark, Robinson was whistled for a flagrant foul following a lengthy video review, and FSU reclaimed the lead with a pair of free throws, 17-15. In a first half that saw five lead changes and five ties, Simpson broke a nearly four-minute scoring drought when he took an outlet the length of the court for a head-fake layup and a 17-17 tie."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
FSU then took its largest lead of the half, 23-19, with 6:10 to play on a floater in the lane from Cofer. Abdur-Rahkman answered with a contested triple, breaking a cold streak from long range, before Matthews regained the lead, 24-23, on a pair of freebies. FSU answered right back with a corner triple from Cofer to make it 26-24 in favor of FSU before the Seminoles committed four turnovers and were held scoreless for the final 4:41 of the half. Michigan missed four free throws in that stretch but still managed to pull ahead at the break, 27-26."according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
After connecting on 3-of-4 to start the game, U-M managed to make just 4-of-17 the rest of the way but stayed competitive thanks to an 11-of-15 mark at the free throw line. FSU overcame 14 turnovers forced by Michigan's tenacious defense and 12 first-half fouls thanks to 9-of-21 shooting (.429) and a perfect 5-of-5 mark from the charity stripe. "according to http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-basketball-hello-final-four-michigans-defense-reigns-against-florida-state.aspx
Tip-off is set for 6:09pm from the Alamodome in San Antonio . The game will be televised on TBS. "according to http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard