Illinois center Kofi Cockburn is surrounded by Loyola Chicago’s Cameron Krutwig, left, Keith Clemons and Lucas Williamson during their second-round game Sunday in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis. Loyola upset the top-seeded Illini, 71-58. Paul Sancya/Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — If the pregame prayer sounded more like a scouting report, it was. And if Sister Jean didn’t have any plans for next weekend, well, she does now.
Loyola Chicago carried out its 101-year-old superfan’s plans to a T on Sunday, moving to the Sweet 16 with a 71-58 win over Illinois, the first No. 1 seed bounced from this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Cameron Krutwig delivered a 19-point, 12-rebound masterpiece, and the quick-handed, eighth-seeded Ramblers (26-4) led wire to wire. They befuddled a powerful Illinois offense to return to the second weekend, three years after their last magical run to the Final Four.
“We just executed, played our game and controlled the game from the start,” Krutwig said. “Nobody was really doing anything out of body or out of mind. We just stuck to the game plan.”
Who wrote it?
Some of Loyola’s wisdom comes from Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the venerable team chaplain, who headlined the team’s 2018 run to the Final Four and received both COVID-19 vaccination shots so she could travel to Indianapolis to see what inspiration she could provide in 2021.
Before taking in this game from a luxury suite – sitting in her wheelchair and decked out in her trademark maroon and gold scarf – Jean delivered a pregame prayer that could’ve been stripped straight from a John Wooden handbook.
“As we play the Fighting Illini, we ask for special help to overcome this team and get a great win,” she said. “We hope to score early and make our opponents nervous. We have a great opportunity to convert rebounds as this team makes about 50% of layups and 30% of its 3 points. Our defense can take care of that.”
From her mouth to their ears.
Illinois (24-7) earned a No. 1 seed for the first time since its own Final Four run in 2005, but fell behind by double digits in the first half and never got within striking range. The Illini committed 16 turnovers and scored 23 points fewer than their season average. A team that lives for easy buckets in transition got two fast-break points.
Illinois’ 7-foot second-team All-American Kofi Cockburn finished with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, but worked hard for every shot against the pestering presence of Krutwig and Co.
Loyola guards Lucas Williamson (14 points) and Keith Clemons (two steals) kept first-team All-American Ayo Dosunmu from ever finding his comfort zone. He finished with nine points, 11 under his season average. Illini guard Trent Frazier shot 1 of 10 for two points.
Loyola built a 14-point lead late in the first half, and though the Illini made a few 4-0 runs in the second half, they never made it a one-possession game.
“We tried everything in the bag, everything that’s made us one of the most efficient offensive teams today,” Illinois Coach Brad Underwood said. “Just for whatever reason (it) didn’t work.”
(2) HOUSTON 63, (10) RUTGERS 60: Quentin Grimes scored 22 points, Tramon Mark converted a soaring three-point play with 24 seconds left, and Houston (26-3) rallied to beat Rutgers (16-12) in Indianapolis.
The 10th-seeded Scarlet Knights led for most of the game, but DaJon Jarreau overcame a series of bumps and bruises to score a key bucket down the stretch and finished with 17 points for second-seeded Houston.
(11) SYRACUSE 75, (3) WEST VIRGINIA 72: Buddy Boeheim scored 22 of his 25 points after halftime to lead 11th-seeded Syracuse (18-9) past third-seeded West Virginia (19-10) at Indianapolis.
(12) OREGON STATE 80, (4) OKLAHOMA STATE 70: Ethan Thompson scored 26 points and No. 12 seed Oregon State (19-12) neutralized Oklahoma State (21-9) and star freshman Cade Cunningham, rolling to an upset in Indianapolis.
SOUTH REGION
(1) BAYLOR 76, (9) WISCONSIN 63: Davion Mitchell scored 16 points and spearheaded a dominant defensive first half, helping top-seeded Baylor (24-2) eliminate Wisconsin (18-13) in Indianapolis.
The Bears looked every bit a Final Four favorite in the first half, smothering Wisconsin with the type of defensive pressure they played before a late-season COVID-19 pause.
The Badgers showed a bit of fight after being backed into an 18-point deficit, rallying to within seven midway through the second half behind D’Mitrik Trice (12 points). But the Bears answered the run with a dash of more defense to reach the Sweet 16 for the fifth time under Coach Scott Drew.
(3) ARKANSAS 68, (6) TEXAS TECH 66: Justin Smith had 20 points and played a key role in a final-play defensive stop, helping third-seeded Arkansas (24-6) beat No. 6 Texas Tech (18-11) in Indianapolis, securing the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in a quarter-century.
In the final seconds of a tense finish, Smith found himself defending Kyler Edwards beyond the 3-point arc. Edwards drove into the paint with Smith on his hip and missed a layup, with Arkansas guard JD Notae snagging the rebound and sprinting up court to run off the final seconds.
(5) VILLANOVA 84, (13) NORTH TEXAS 61: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scored 18 points, and Villanova (18-6) knocked down 15 3-pointers to prevent North Texas (18-10) from a second straight upset, beating the Mean Green in Indianapolis.
(15) ORAL ROBERTS 81, (7) FLORIDA 78: Oral Roberts (18-10) became just the second No. 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the round of 16, beating seventh-seeded Florida (15-10).
Kevin Obanor and Max Abams carried the Golden Eagles out of an 11-point deficit. Obanor scored 28 points and Abmas, the nation’s leading scorer, finished with 26 as Oral Roberts closed the game on a 25-11 run.
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