There’s a Final Four contender from the state of Illinois moving on to the NCAA tournament’s second weekend.
It just isn’t the one most predicted in their brackets.
In a highly anticipated second-round battle between the Land of Lincoln’s flagship school and its most successful mid-major basketball program, Loyola Chicago emerged with a 71-58 victory over top-seeded Illinois. This was no fluky aberration either as the eighth-seeded Ramblers never trailed and led by six or more for the game’s final 26-plus minutes.
Cameron Krutwig, the most prominent holdover from Loyola’s unlikely 2018 Final Four team, spearheaded Sunday’ upset, scoring 19 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists.