INDIANAPOLIS – Loyola Chicago executed 101-year-old superfan Sister Jean’s plans on Sunday to a T and moved into the Sweet 16 with a 71-58 victory over Illinois, the first No. 1 seed to bounce back from the NCAA tournament from this year.
Cameron Krutwig delivered a 19-point, 12-rebound masterpiece and the fast, eighth-seeded Ramblers (26-4) led wire to wire. They confused a powerful bout in Illinois to return to the second weekend, three years after their last magical run to the Final Four.
The Ramblers then play in Oklahoma State or Oregon State, who would meet later on Sunday.
Their trip to the 2018 Final Four was crowned by Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the team’s venerable chaplain, who received both COVID-19 vaccination shots and permission to travel to Indianapolis to see what inspiration she could provide in 2021.
Before Jean recorded most of this game from the deluxe suite – sitting in her wheelchair and decked out in her signature maroon and gold scarf – Jean uttered a pre-game prayer that could have been taken straight from a John Wooden handbook.
“As we play the Fighting Illini, we ask for special help to beat this team and have 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 does about 50% of the lay-ups and 30% of the 3 points. Our defense can take care of that.”
From her mouth to their ears.
Illinois (24-7) earned the top spot for the first time since their own Final Four run in 2005, but fell behind by double digits in the first half and never came within the standout range. The Illini had 16 sales and scored 23 points less than their seasonal average.
All-American Kofi Cockburn, a 7-foot runner-up from Illinois, finished with 21 points on 7-for-12 shots, but worked hard for every shot against the bullying presence of Krutwig & Co.
And Loyola’s hand guards, Lucas Williamson and Keith Clemons, made sure that the first-team All-American Ayo Dosunmu would never find his comfort zone. He finished with nine points, 11 below his season average.
The other All-American on the floor was a third tea maker, Krutwig, who looked into this globe.
Posting, turning, arranging when needed and creating all kinds of defense issues in the paint, the 6-foot-9 senior played bigger. He also had five assists. Krutwig was with Loyola for the last Final Four trip and has since been one of only four players in Missouri Valley Conference history with 1,500 points, 800 boards and 300 assists.
And there is a chance for more.
It is a turnaround that Sister Jean could see happen. Ahead of the game, she suggested that Loyola, the MVC champions who won 25 games this year, might have gotten a rough deal with a No. 8 placement putting it up to a 1 so early.
There was only one way to deal with that, and for anyone outside of Champaign – whether holding a freshly wiped out brace – it’s hard to argue that this Loyola team isn’t the breath of fresh air in this tournament-in-a-bubble . badly needed.
Sure, there have been setbacks, some drama and small teams doing big things.
But there is no one like Sister Jean to put the whole thing in perspective. The Ramblers and March Madness – it’s a tough habit to break.