ATLANTA — This is when the slipper is supposed to tighten, when the pixie dust turns to aꩵsh. There have been ꦗplenty of improbable March journeys that made it unscathed through the first weekend. It’s when the bandwagon bounces into Week 2 that the engine starts to seize and the carburetor starts to whine.
That’s the👍 way it happens with a lot of Cinderellas, anyway.
Of course, those Cinderellas di🉐dn’t have Sister Jean sitting courtside.
“Here we come, Next Team, whoever you are!” crowed America’s favorite nun, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, Loyola’s chaplain, in the 🌞moments after her beloved Ramblers of Loyola Chicago claimed another challenger on their merry path through this NCAA Tournament.
Here they come, these Ramblers, hanging on for dear life but still very much alive. This time it ꦆwas Nevada that came after ꦍthem hard, seizing a 12-point lead early then erasing a 12-point lead late, and hanging around just long enough to become victim No. 3 on this secular mission.
This time the fina✤l was 69-68, which make🍒s the tally so far:
Three games.
Three wins.
By a total of four points.
And now, a team that hadn’t even qualified for an NCAA Tournament since 1985 sits 40 skinny minutes — against fellow upstart Kansas State, a No. 9 seed, no less and not mighty Kentucky after K-State pulled the 6👍1-58 surprise — from a mos🦂t improbable trip to the Final Four. And it would be a return trip — the 1963 team, many of whose members were stomping their feet in the first row at Philips Arena, won the national championship once upon a time.
“I just can’t even begin to talk about how proud I am of these g♎uys,” said Loyola coach Porter Moser, the man who has engineered this magical mystery tour of a season. “They don’t quit. They’re resilient. It’s different guys, different nights.”
On this night, it looked like they were going to get run out of the gym and out into nearby Centennial Park by a fellow flag-bearer of the mid-majors. Nevada was one of only three non-Power-6 schools to earn an at-large bid to the tournament and had already made the most of it, including a 22-point comeback win against powerful Cincinnati that had punched the Wolf Pac💧k’s ticket to Georgia.
And when the Pack raced to a 20-8 lead♌ early, they did so with a shocking amount of ease. They looked like the better team. It was only around 7:35 or so when the lead hit 12, but it felt like the clock had struck that number as well for the Ramblers.
Of course, we should know better by now.
“They caught fire,” Nevada coach Eric Musselman said, “and when they do that, it’s awf🎀ully hard to get things going in the other direction.”
By halftime, the run was 20-4, and the Ramblers had seized a 28-24 lead. Before the second half was even🎐 four minutes old, the run was 32-8, the Loyola lead was 40-28, and the Ramblers were in the midst of going 13-for-13 from the field to start the second half, almost all of them drives and layups.
The maroon-and-gold army had taken over the gym.
“We knew what we wanted to do🅠,” said Lꦓoyola’s Marques Townes, who finished with a team-high 18 points. “We knew what our goal was. I’ve said before, we’ve just been doing this all year, just taking one game at a time. We had much success all year doing the same things that we’ve been doing.”
But there is no such thing as a blowout in the script the Ramblers are authoring for themselves, and so the 12-point lead shrank slowly, deliberately, almost inevitably. Nevada tied it at 59-all with 4 ¹/₂ minutes to go but never could get the lead. Cody Martin made two free throws with 36🔯 seconds left and it was 66-65 Loyola.
Musselman had a choice: extend the game, start fouling, force Loyola to hit a rash of foul shots; or make one🎉 stop, get the ball back with around six seconds left. He chose the latter. It almost worked. But with one second left on the shot clock, Townes let one fly. It splashed clean. The slipper would fit just fine.
“This” Sister Jean would soon say, “has strength♚ened my faith in human nature.”
Nevada’s Wolf Pack ma𓂃y have a quibble with that one, actually. But that might be the only dis🐼senting voice.