NCAA Tourney: KSU
ATLANTA One of the most magical NCAA Tournament runs in school history came to an end for Kansas State on Saturday at Philips Arena.
Loyola-Chicago beat the Wildcats 78-62 in an Elite Eight battle of underdogs that had both teams dreaming of their first Final Four trip in more than 50 years.
Things seemed to fall perfectly into place for K-State to keep dancing when it improbably knocked off Kentucky two days ago. Very few gave this group a shot in that game. But things were different in this round. A matchup with Loyola-Chicago, a No. 11 seed from the Missouri Valley Conference, was far from intimidating.
And yet, much like 2010, the last time K-State advanced to the Elite Eight and lost to Butler, the Wildcats seemed to run out of energy one game shy of college basketballs biggest stage.
That will leave a sour taste in the mouths of some K-State fans, coming so close and not completing the journey. Still, these Wildcats accomplished more in the past two weeks than even the most optimistic of supporters expected, particularly playing without star forward Dean Wade for all but eight minutes.
They beat Creighton, became the first No. 9 seed to beat a No. 16 seed and earned national respect against Kentucky. Fittingly, they made history even with this loss, becoming the first No. 9 seed to lose to a No. 11 seed in the regional finals. Such a match-up had never previously occurred.
Loyola-Chicago won this game by doing what K-State had previously done to teams in this tournament.
It made life miserable for the Wildcats on defense, playing pressure man defense and dropping four players back after shots to limit their transition game.
K-State seemed bewildered against it from the start.
It didnt help that the Ramblers came out red hot. The Wildcats have made a habit of winning postseason games by slowing things down and playing suffocating defense, but Loyola-Chicago made 10 of its first 12 shots, including all three of its 3-pointers, to build a 25-14 lead.
K-State had not trailed by more than seven in the first three rounds, and that deficit came in beginning moments against Maryland-Baltimore County. It quickly came back and controlled the game, otherwise.
No such luck against Loyola-Chicago, which continued to play like a team of destiny as famous fan Sister Jean cheered them on.
The Ramblers led 36-24 at halftime and pulled ahead by as many as 23 in the second half. Ben Richardson, of Overland Park, Kan., led the way with a game-high 23 points. His former high school teammate Clayton Custer had seven.
That was too much for the cold-shooting Wildcats. Xavier Sneed had 16 points, Barry Brown had 14 and Kamau Stokes added 13, but few other players found an offensive rhythm.
Perhaps playing without Wade, who went back to watching this game from the end of the bench, finally caught up with K-State. It got by, and occasionally thrived, without him in the first three NCAA Tournament games, but that wasnt the case here.
