The Loyola University men’s basketball team, lucky to get more than one paragraph of coverage during the regular season, has become a media darling. Knocking off Miami and Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament’s first two rounds last week did wonders for their coverage.
And, just when it looked as though Loyola, 30-5, would play second-seeded Cincinnati in an NCAA regional semifinal in Atlanta at 6:07 p.m. Thursday, March 22, a game between the two schools that played in the 1963 National championship game, along comes Nevada.
No. 7 Nevada, 28-7 rallied from 22 points down to defeat Cincinnati,75-73, Sunday and earn a berth against Loyola.
Loyola nudged Cincinnati, 60-58, in overtime on a last-second basket by the Ramblers’ Vic Rouse, in 1963.
There were only 25 teams in the 1963 NCAA tournament. After defeating Mississippi State, Loyola beat Illinois 79-64 to advance to the Final Four. The thought of two Illinois teams fighting for a spot in the National semifinals is a bit hard to comprehend these days.
Loyola beat Duke, 94-75, in semifinal game to set up the game with two-time defending champion Cincinnati which had raced past Oregon State in the other semifinal game.
George Ireland, Loyola head coach in 1963, coached at Marmion Academy in Aurora before taking the Loyola job, arrived on Chicago’s North Side in 1951. Similar to present Loyola coach, Porter Moser, Ireland didn’t experience instant success. Loyola’s 1962-1963 squad was his, and the school’s, first NCAA Tournament entrant.
The present Ramblers’ squad is the sixth in school history to play in the NCAA tournament. The 30 victories by this season’s Ramblers are the most in school history. The National championship side ended up with a 29-2 record in 1963.
Cameron Krutwig, a 6-9 freshman from Jacobs High School in Algonquin, has played a key role in Loyola success. A victory Thursday, March 22 would mean a quarterfinal game Saturday.