Loyola-Chicago Continued Its Cinderella Run By Beating Nevada To Make The Elite Eight

Before the 2018 NCAA Tournament began, the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers were something of a trendy sleeper pick. A favorable first-round matchup against Miami set the stage for that particular thought process but, in the end, most brackets had the No. 11 seed in the South Region exiting before the Sweet 16.

However, the Ramblers escaped with back-to-back thrilling victories over Miami and No. 3 seed Tennessee and, on Thursday evening, Loyola-Chicago kept their Cinderella run going in style by picking up a win over another potential Cinderella.

The Missouri Valley Conference champions fell behind by a 20-8 margin in the early going against a more athletic Nevada Wolfpack team. From that point forward, though, Loyola-Chicago produced stellar defense and a clutch three pointer from the hand of Marques Townes proved to be the difference in a 69-68 victory.

Townes led the way for the underdogs with 18 points, five assists and four rebounds. He was flanked by 15-point efforts from both Clayton Custer and Aundre Jackson. As a team, Loyola-Chicago converted a blazing 56 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three-point range, overcoming 16 turnovers and continuing their reputation as a team that rises to the occasion in the clutch.

Though it was clear that fans of the Kentucky Wildcats, filing in down the stretch as they awaited their own team’s contest against Kansas State, were on the side of the double-digit seed in this particular round, a potential match-up against the prohibitive South Region favorite potentially looms on Saturday if Kentucky can hold serve. Still, the Ramblers can celebrate a wild ride to the Elite Eight and at least one double-figure seed will be appearing in a 2018 Regional Final.