Box Score

ATLANTA, Ga. (March 24, 2018) - 

In Short…
Loyola University Chicago (32-5) jumped out to an early double-figure lead and never looked back as it defeated Kansas State (25-12) by a final score of 78-62 in the NCAA South Region final this evening at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Ga. to secure a spot in next weekend's NCAA Final Four.  The Ramblers will be making their first Final Four appearance since winning the 1963 National Championship. 
 
How It Happened
As was the case on Thursday night, Cameron Krutwig got Loyola off and running, finishing inside to put the Ramblers on the board first, 2-0, just 23 seconds in.  Following a Barry Brown jumper that gave Kansas State a 5-4 edge, two threes from Ben Richardson provided the bookends to an 11-0 Loyola run that had the Ramblers racing back in front, 15-5.
 
Xavier Sneed connected on a corner triple to trim Loyola's lead to 21-14 but the Ramblers answered right back, with layups from Lucas Williamson and Krutwig, respectively, pushing the lead to 11, 25-14, at the 8:54 mark.  The Wildcats battled back to within 27-22 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Brown but Loyola again answered, with a Krutwig three-point play of his own reestablishing an 11-point margin, 33-22.  Richardson's third three of the half sent Loyola charging into the locker room with a 36-24 advantage. 
 
Loyola kept its foot on the gas coming out of halftime.  Ingram knocked down a three on Loyola's opening possession of the second stanza before Richardson converted a four-point play with 16:54 remaining to extend the lead to 45-29.  Clayton Custer drained his first triple of the evening with just over five minutes gone as part of a 7-0 run that widened the gap to 52-33 and forced a Kansas State timeout at the 14:06 mark. 
 
A reverse layup by Lucas Williamson gave Loyola its largest lead of the night, 61-38, with just under 10 minutes to play in regulation.  Kansas State refused to go away as it chipped its deficit down to 64-52 on a second-chance score by Amaad Wainright with 4:17 remaining.  Marques Townes put away any hopes of a Wildcat comeback as he finished off a three-point play to stretch the lead back out to 69-52 as Loyola secured its spot in the NCAA Final Four. 
 
Looking At The Numbers
- Richardson scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting and connected on a career-best six threes.
- Townes added 13 points, while Ingram chipped in 12 points to round out a trio to reach double figures in scoring.
- Loyola shot 57 percent (27-of-47) from the field, while holding Kansas State to only 35 percent (23-of-66) efficiency. 
- Sneed finished with 16 points to lead Kansas State.
 
Up Next
Loyola now moves on to the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.  The Ramblers will take on the third-seeded Michigan Wolverines, who defeated Florida State in the West Region final, at the Alamodome on Saturday, March 31 at a time that is yet to be announced.