In my four years as a student at Loyola University Chicago, and two as a student reporter, this game might be up there as one of the best I’ve gotten to witness.
Loyola (21-8, 13-3 A10) pulled off an upset win over #21 Dayton (22-6, 12-4 A10) at Gentile Arena on Friday night, 77-72 in front of another sellout crowd.
This was the team’s first ranked win in three seasons and their first at home since 1986.
The evening’s matchup delivered everything FridA10 enjoyers could have asked for – and more. Seven ties, ten lead changes, and this clutch shot from graduate guard Braden Norris with 18 seconds remaining – the game-winner for the Ramblers.
“Honestly, you kind of just black out in a game like that where it’s that loud,” he said during the postgame press conference. “I didn’t know if [the shot] was gonna be short, long, go in, I couldn’t even feel it come off of my hands.”
The captain had a night to remember with a double-double of 19 points and 11 assists in his record-breaking 123rd career start for the Ramblers.
After a tough loss on the road against St. Bonaventure, where the team looked lost on both ends of the floor, something had to change coming into the contest.
Head coach Drew Valentine said the emphasis was put on two things: toughness and focus.
“We knew it was gonna be a high-level environment, and we knew there was gonna be a lot of emotion and meaning to this game,” he said. “The focus remained not on anything else but just winning the game.”
Junior guard Des Watson led all scorers with 24 – 16 of which came over the course of the first half. Three Flyers, including junior forward DaRon Holmes II, finished with double figures.
Dayton have now lost four of their last five games on the road. In spite of shooting 52% from the field and 46.7% from three, committing an unseasonably-high 22 turnovers was the downfall for the Flyers.
Their 9.7 turnovers per game was 21st-lowest in the NCAA coming into Friday’s game, per TeamRankings.
The Flyers will take their show to the Gateway of the West for a game against the lowly Saint Louis Billikens (10-18, 3-12 A10) on Tuesday – likely to be out of the AP Poll looking in.
The Ramblers slot into second place and will need a Richmond loss today to have a share of first place going into the final week.
They also garner a Quad-1 win – their first out of their five opportunities. This will most likely push the team’s NCAA Efficiency Tool (NET) ranking into the top 90 in the country and leave a positive impact on the selection committee.
When asked about the potential of receiving an at-large bid in the field of 68, Valentine said if it happens, it happens.
“I think we just gotta focus on getting better and focus on winning a championship,” he said. “We’ve proven over the course of this year that we belong and can play with anybody in the country.”
Valentine’s squad has a four-day break before traveling to Davidson (15-13, 5-10 A10) on Wednesday for the second game of a home-and-home series.
Tip-off is set for 6 PM CST and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
