Can the Ramblers Compete With Nevada?

(St. Louis, MO) – A funny thing happened on the way to writing a story about what a difficult matchup Cincinnati was going to be for Loyola in their Sweet Sixteen game. There I was sitting court side at Bridgestone Arena and that crazy Nevada team recorded the second largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.

The Wolf Pack came back from 14 down in Friday’s game against Texas to force overtime and then defeat the Longhorns. They went far deeper into the bag of reserves on Sunday. Trailing by 22 points, the Mountain West champs kept chipping away at the Cincinnati lead.

The Martin twins (Caleb and Cody) attacked, attacked and attacked. Cody led the way with 25 points, but it was Caleb’s three-pointer in the final minute, that tied the game, only to be won on the Wolf Pack’s only lead of the night, a little floater from James Hall and Nevada was bound for Atlanta with a 75-73 win.

So how do the Ramblers match up with Nevada? We did a Twitter poll and 75% of you wanted to see Nevada rather than the more athletic Cincinnati. So you got your wish!

Nevada is taller than Loyola Chicago, but what else is new? In this dance marathon virtually every team has a height advantage when measured against Sr. Jean’s boys.

The Martin twins do pose a problem. They drive to the rim, take good angles and can shoot the three. At 6’7 they will be a handful for perimeter defenders Ben Richardson, Donte Ingram, Marques Townes and Lucas Williamson. Caleb averages 18.8 points per game and Cody averages 13.9.

6’7 sharp shooter Kendall Stephens (13.4 ppg) connected three times from long distance against the Bearcats, giving him 126 for the season, breaking the record of former Missouri State player Marcus Marshall who graduated from Nevada last Spring. Did you notice that I’ve now mentioned three 6’7 perimeter players.

When coach Eric Musselman lost point guard Lindsey Drew to injury, Cody Martin had to pick up more of the ball-handling duties and he’s handing out 4.6 assists per game.

Nevada doesn’t really play with a traditional center, but the name of the power forward should be familiar to Loyola fans. Former Southern Illinois performer Jordan Caroline is having an outstanding junior season. His 17.7 point-per-game average is second on the team and he leads the Wolf Pack, grabbing almost nine rebounds per contest.

The Ramblers’ routinely outstanding defense will have to be on mark in this one. Nevada has many weapons. Caleb Martin was the MWC’s ‘Player of the Year’. Cody was the ‘Defensive Player of the Year‘, Musselman the ‘Coach of the Year’ and Caroline was named to the All Mountain West first team.

Those two comebacks were not by accident. The Martin twins are ‘street fighters’. The more intense the game gets, the better they like it. Cody received a technical foul after MAKING a basket, when the Wolf Pack was down big.

Musselman, a former NBA coach, runs a completely different offense than most that college teams confront.

That Loyola defense and patient offense will be a must. Nevada can get frustrated and shoot themselves out of games as well as shooting themselves into contests. There can be no let downs. The Ramblers cannot take any possessions off on either end of the floor.

Where the Ramblers will have an advantage is in the post. Cameron Krutwig will face a team that does have size, but not a true center. While Nevada is long, they are not overly physical. The Ramblers actually have a chance to do some damage in transition and from deep as the Wolf Pack is energetic and aggressive on defense, that leads to some run outs and open threes.

This will be a contrast of styles and personalities and should make for great theater.

Do Good

 

Editor: cover photo courtesy of loyolaramblers.com.