No drama this time: Loyola romps to advance to Final Four

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Loyola is partying like it's 1963.

After three straight victories that went right down to the wire, the Ramblers blew out Kansas State to advance to the program's second Final Four appearance. Loyola won 78-62.

The last time Loyola made it to the Final Four was in 1963, when the Ramblers won the national title.

Kansas State led 3-2 and 5-4, but after that it was all Loyola. The Ramblers sprinted out to a 15-5 lead and maintained a double-digit lead for all of the second half, leading by as many as 23 points.

"These guys got a ton of fight," Loyola coach Porter Moser said on the floor after the game with a celebratory Loyola Final Four hat on.

Ben Richardson starred for Loyola with 23 points. The Ramblers shot 57 percent from the floor and made half of their 18 3-point attempts while limiting Kansas State to below 35 percent shooting from the field. The Wildcats made just 6 of 25 3-pointers.

"It's just one of those moments I can't even explain," Richardson said. "I kind of just blacked out. It was a big, big-time game, the biggest game of my life. so I guess I just blacked out on some of those celebrations."

In the first round Donte Ingram made the buzzer-beater. The next game it was Clayton Custer's jumper in the final seconds to give the Ramblers a one-point win. In the Sweet 16, Marques Townes' late 3-pointer was key in another one-point win.

On Saturday, Richardson, who didn't even score in the first round and was in single digits in the next two games broke out for a career-high 23 points.

"We were selfless today," Townes said. "Ben had a real good game and we made some big time plays and big time shots at certain crucial moments."

The 31-5 Ramblers now face the winner of Michigan and Florida State in the Final Four in San Antonio.

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