The season and opportunity to advance came right down to the final minutes. For the Ramblers, they came up short. Making their first NIT semifinal appearance since 1962, Loyola Chicago dropped an 80-73 decision to Chattanooga. Tuesday’s game at Hinkle Field House on the Butler University campus saw the Ramblers finish the season 25-12 while Chattanooga is now 28-9. Numbers and notes…
Possessions: 64
Offensive Efficiency: Chattanooga 125, Loyola 114
Four Factors:
eFG Pct.- Chattanooga 60, Loyola 59
FT Rate- Loyola 34, Chattanooga 16
OREB Pct.- Chattanooga 37, Loyola 21
TO Rate- Chattanooga 13, Loyola 17
Points of Emphasis:
Making plays. Sometimes you have to look beyond the numbers and the ebb and flow of the contest. Those are the times when you ascertain who made the deciding plays when needed at ‘crunch time’. Chalk that up to coach Dan Earl’s Mocs. With four minutes remaining Chattanooga held a 72-70 lead. Loyola could never gain the lead nor draw even.
The proverbial ‘dagger’ the shot that will live in Loyola faithful infamy was a three pointer from the right side with 35 seconds remaining by Chattanooga’s Honor Huff. That gave the Mocs a 77-73 lead and they were able to close it out.
Comeback. Heading into the final four minutes, in a game featuring eight ties and as many lead changes, Chattanooga appeared to be in the driver’s seat. The Mocs held a 10 points lead with just seven a half minutes to play. Loyola regrouped and responded, going on a 6-0 run. A Des Watson three pointer made it a one possession game, The Ramblers came back several times over the course of the game. They were unable to close it out but their ability to stay resilient epitomized their NIT run which included two one possession road conquests.
“I am so proud of what this group has accomplished,” Loyola coach Drew Valentine told loyolaramblers.com. “I am grateful for the belief they had in us as a team. Des (Watson) and Sheldon’s (Edwards) leadership and everyone’s belief helped get us here and I am going to miss these guys.”
Scoring droughts and numbers. Going several minutes without putting points on the board is detrimental. In a one possession game it could be a deciding factor. Loyola was held scoreless over the last 2:37 of the game. Overall, the Ramblers had four separate times where they went two and a half minutes without a field goal.
On closer review, Chattanooga’s 29-22 rebounding advantage led to a 12-5 difference in second chance points. In addition, the Mocs enjoyed a 38-30 edge in points in the paint.
It was only the fourth time the Ramblers allowed an offensive efficiency of 125 or higher and only the third time they surrendered a 60% or greater eFG mark.
Notes. Trey Bonham of Chattanooga shot 10 of 16 from the field to lead all scorers with 23 points. Jayden Dawson paced Loyola with 19. Miles Rubin added 14 and Jalen DeLoach 13 for the Ramblers. Rubin, incidentally, stated his intention to return to Loyola next season.
Chattanooga shot 53% from the floor, 43% (9 of 21)from three. Loyola was 50% overall and 33% (9 of 27) from beyond the arc.
Chattanooga will face UC Irvine for the NIT championship. It will be the first championship game appearance for both schools. UCI knocked off North Texas, 69-67, in the other semifinal.
Huff’s late game three, his fourth of the night, was his 128th of the campaign, the most in the NCAA this season. Huff scored 12 points, shooting 4 of 10 from downtown.
Loyola was hoping to reach their first NIT final since 1949. Back then the 12 team tournament was contested at Madison Square Garden. San Francisco, coached by legendary Pete Newell, defeated the Ramblers to claim the title.
Ironically Loyola’s second round win in the current NIT came at San Francisco
