Along came 11th seeded Loyola-Chicago to gain the Sweet 16 with a buzzer thriller

Still buzzing over 16th seeded UMBC’s historic win over No. 1 seed Virginia, along came 11th seeded Loyola-Chicago to gain the Sweet 16 with a buzzer thriller over 3rd seeded Tennessee Saturday Second final-second win for the Ramblers after ousting
6th seeded Miami of Florida in what has turned into a men’s tournament of buzzer-beaters

By Arnie Leshin 

One day after 16th seeded Maryland Baltimore County proved that nothing lasts forever, Loyola of Chicago proved that prayers could do wonders.

As for UMBC, the spotlight belongs to its Saturday shocker over No. 1 seeded Virginia. It was not just a 74-54 surprise, it turned into a rout and gracious Cavaliers’ head coach Tony Bennett did not hesitate praising the Retrievers in the first time a 16th seed defeated a No.1 in 136 games of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Said Bennett: “I told my team that things like this happen, that we could have played better, but take nothing away from UMBC, they simply outplayed us. Once they got in front late in the first half, they just added to it with just a tremendous performance. They beat us in every phase of the game and I credit them.”

While the Retrievers now go against Kansas State today, the Ramblers from the Windy City got to celebrate a second-straight win in their first appearance in the national tournament since 1985.

It took a last second jump shot from Clayton Custer from behind the foul circle with the clock showing 0:3 second to stun 3rd seeded Tennessee 63-62. The ball bounced off the side of the rim and landed on the glass above the basket.

The teams battled back-and-forth, and when the Volunteers took the lead at 62-60 and with Loyola without a time out as the seconds ticked down, Custer just heaved up winner to bring his team its 30th triumph, a program record that was previously owned by the ’63 champions.
The Missouri Valley winners have lost only five times, and are a confident group. They battle for every loose ball, set up back-door passes, make shots from outside, and box out to bring down rebounds, this time against a taller Tennessee team that finished at 26-7.

Custer’s jumper came two days after Dante Ingram’s buzzer-beater brought a one-point victory over 6th seeded Miami of Florida. That also brought the initial introduction of Ms. Schmidt to the large viewing audience.

The next stop for her beloved Ramblers is the Sweet 16 when they meet up with a red-hot Kentucky team, the 5th seed who advanced by getting past a pesky Davidson, the 12th seed,

That contest is Thursday, when that day’s winners get to advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Friday survivors take the court again on Sunday, with the semifinals the following weekend.

But Loyola, the national champion in 1963, is banking on its balanced lineup that doesn’t stand tall, and 98-year-old Sister Jean Delores Schmidt, who is the team’s chaplain and sits and cheers from her wheelchair close by the Ramblers’ bench.

“We went through the same thing we always do,” she said, “and that’s the pre-game prayer in the locker room. I did have them losing to Cincinnati in the next round, and told them so, but now I’m on the way to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta.”

This has become a tournament with many surprises that included 13th seeded Marshall (25-10) topping 4th seeded Wichita State (25-8) in a close contest. Then there was 11th seeded Syracuse (22-11) winning a tight one versus 6th seeded TCU, and 3rd seeded Texas Tech (25-9) scoring in the final seconds to nip 6th seeded Florida (20-13).

In the clash matching 4th seeded Gonzaga (32-4) with 5th seeded Ohio State (24-9), it was Gonzaga pulling ahead late in the game.

Same with top-seed Kansas (29-7) making its past 8th seeded Seton Hall (22-12) with a late run, and there was 3rd seeded Michigan (30-7) spoiling things for upset-minded Houston (27-8), the 6th seed, on yet another buzzer-beater after the Cougars took the lead with four seconds left.

An expected close contest pairing 2nd seeded Duke (28-7) with 7th seeded Rhode Island (26-8) never happened as the Blue Devils dominated from the start and won by 20 points.

Coached by Danny Hurley, who played for the storied St. Anthony of Jersey City program along with his brother, Bob, was taking on a Duke program where Bob was an All-America and paved the way to a pair of national championships, so it was a question of who Bob was rooting for while his dad, Bob Hurley, Sr., who coached St. Anthony, of course rooting for Danny’s team.

And can’t forget 2nd seeded Purdue (30-6) winning a nail-biter over 10th seeded Butler (21-14) today.

But no more wondering if or when a 16th seed can defeat a top-seed in what was a historic win for UMBC. How does 135-1 sound?