1-Seed Illinois, Confident Loyola Ready To Dance, Maybe Together

Chicago IL

18 March, 2021

4:38 PM

Description

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood felt like his basketball team had a deep NCAA Tournament run inside of it last year before the coronavirus wiped out an annual rite of spring that the Illini have not enjoyed since 2013. A year later, Underwood maintains the same confidence in a multi-layered team that is rich in talent and connected in a way that makes the Illini among the favorites to reach the Final Four. Illinois, fresh off a Big Ten Tournament championship, is the tournament's third-overall seed heading into Friday's opener against Drexel and is prepared for a stay in Indianapolis that the Illini hope extends for the next three weeks. Loyola, which is no stranger to a Final Four journey, hopes for a similar run three years after the Ramblers became the sweetheart of the 2018 tournament with a series of improbable victories that eventually ended in a national semifinal loss to Michigan. But if Loyola — which opens tournament play on Friday against Georgia Tech — is hoping to dance as long as it in its last NCAA appearance, not only a win on Friday would be required, but so would a likely Sunday match-up with the state's other tournament participant: Illinois, which is the Midwest Regional's No. 1 seed. Neither the Ramblers (24-4) nor the Illini (23-6) are looking past their first opponents, but a potential showdown against one another makes for some compelling competitive theater. As confident as Underwood's bunch is, there will be pitfalls to be certain, including the notion of just being the second No. 1 seed in tournament history to lose to a No. 16 seed. But for a team that nearly lost to Ohio University in the third game of the regular season but that enters Friday's tournament opener against Drexel having won 15 of its last 16 games, the temptation of overlooking anyone on a road the Illini hopes ends in another Lucas Oil Stadium celebration isn't one taken lightly. That's especially the case considering the journey the Illini have needed to get here, Underwood believes his team has the right mindset. "It's been tough for them the last few years," Underwood told reporters after Sunday's Big Ten Tournament title victory over Ohio State. "I'm glad we're back and that they can pop their jersey and wear it with pride." Former Michigan coach John Beilein likes the chemistry that Illinois plays with as it hunts for a national championship. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) Former Michigan coach John Beilein understands the formula needed to reach the Final Four. Beilein, who left the college ranks to briefly jump to coaching the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, said some luck is involved in navigating the path that leads to the Final Four. But after guiding Michigan to appearances in the NCAA title game in 2013 and 2018, Beilein likes Illinois' make-up. While the team's stars – National Player of the Year contender Ayo Dosunmu, center Kofi Cockburn and senior guard Trent Frazier – get much of the notoriety, the team's chemistry has impressed Beilein just as much. With the Illini getting major contributions from reserve freshman guard Andre Curbelo, senior guard Da'Monte Williams and junior forward Giorgi Bezhanisvili, Illinois has a cast of characters that has found a recipe for winning basketball. Their successful run through the Big Ten Tournament last weekend in Indianapolis has them poised for a major run. "They have very defined roles on the team," Beilein, who now works as a Big Ten Network analyst, told Patch this week. "If you're going to build a team, you say, 'OK, I want a big man, I want a point guard, I want a guy who can get his own (points), I want a bench' and they really have all those things. "They have all the components and now it has to mesh every night now from Day 1….They have guys that just want to win. Nobody's in an NBA tryout mindset, nobody's in a sulking mindset that they don't play enough. …they're playing with great pride." Loyola senior center Cameron Krutwig is a key piece if the Ramblers hope to mirror their 2018 run to the Final Four (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) Loyola, meanwhile, enters the tournament as a No. 8 seed and armed with the experience of knowing what it takes to make a deep tournament run. Many analysts believe the Ramblers are more talented than they were when they reached the Final Four three years ago. Loyola's defense has been its calling card throughout the regular season when the Ramblers reeled off an impressive run behind seniors Cameron Krutwig, Lucas Williamson and Keith Clemons. Sophomore guard Braden Norris provided the Ramblers with another spark offensively after he is coming off a 20-performance in the Missouri Valley Championship game against Drake when he connected on 5-of-9 3-point attempts and shot better during than 47 percent from beyond the perimeter during the conference tournament. The Ramblers allowed just 55.5 points per game and allowed opponents to shoot just 40.7 percent from the floor and 32.6 percent from 3-point range. Georgia Tech announced this week that ACC Player of the Year Moses Wright will miss Friday's game because of COVID-19 related issues, which could ease the pressure a bit for the Ramblers. But three years after a magical run that put Loyola basketball back on the national stage, the Ramblers are back where they want to be. "This is what we've wanted," coach Porter Moser told reporters last weekend. "We've wanted to sustain success. We wanted to get back here. You know, it's what drives us in this program. We've kept on feeling the ceiling [and] we're not there yet." Nevertheless, the Ramblers are happy to be dancing again. Krutwig, who was the MVC's Player of the Year, said that Moser has kept Loyola focused on reaching its potential after seeing its season end in the conference tournament quarterfinals last year. If Loyola and Illinois both advance to Sunday's Round of 32 and face one another, the Ramblers would need another upset victory to advance, much like they did in 2018. Moser told reporters this week that even though the Ramblers will enter Friday's game as a higher seed than Georgia Tech, he still relishes their title as underdogs. While many thought the Ramblers should have been a higher seed than an 8, Moser and his team won't allow things they can't control to bother them. "We've got to come out and ready to go," Krutwig told reporters on a Zoom call Wednesday. "We haven't really talked about (the seed). That really hasn't fueled our fire much. There is a feeling on the team that we thought that we should have been (seeded) higher, but hey, that's how it works." Sister Jean Delores-Schmidt, the team's 101-year-old chaplain, said Wednesday that she had the Ramblers reaching the Elite 8 and upsetting Illinois along the way. Sister Jean, who will make the trip to Indianapolis, wasn't particularly fond of the potential Sunday tilt with the Illini, but said that if the Ramblers can beat Illinois, they can "beat anybody." Moser's team, however, is sticking to a different mindset. "At the end of the day you're playing basketball," Williamson said told reporters after Loyola captured the MVC Tournament title. "We're going to approach it with the same mentality. … We're going in trying to win games."