CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- It was party time in Rogers Park, as the Loyola Ramblers advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
There was a celebration in the streets around the Loyola campus in Rogers Park after the Ramblers dispatched No. 1-seeded University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Hundreds of students took to Sheridan Road for a massive public celebration. The student newspaper, the Loyola Phoenix, notes that many students were not wearing masks or observing social distancing.
One student told the paper that the 90 minute public party was the campus coming alive after a year of lockdowns and remote classes.
“It’s really exciting to see campus spirit after a whole year of being on lockdown and feeling like you weren’t part of a school so this is so, so cool to see other people who are having the same emotions and feelings and campus pride as you,” Kelsey Sherry, 21, a neuroscience major told the Loyola Phoenix.
Luke Baumel, a first-year neuroscience and psychology major, said “it’s a great day to be a Rambler.
“It was a great game, this is the most excited I’ve seen students this year.”
Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot congratulated Loyola on Twitter.
Pritzker said "Congratulations to Sister Jean and @RamblersMBB on dancing into the Sweet 16! Great effort by @IlliniMBB, proud to have two great Illinois teams representing us on the biggest stage."
And the Mayor saying "Don’t bet against Sister Jean. Congrats to @RamblersMBBon this afternoon’s upset and @IlliniMBB on an incredible season. Next stop: Sweet Sixteen. #MarchMadness"
Loyola's 101-year-old chaplain was with the team in Indianapolis.
The Illini are the first No. 1 seed to be bounced from this year's NCAA Tournament.
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Cameron Krutwig delivered a 19-point, 12-rebound masterpiece and the quick-handed, eighth-seeded Ramblers (26-4) led wire to wire. The team with the nation's leading defense befuddled powerful Illinois to return to the second weekend three years after its last magical run to the Final Four.
A hard habit to break for these Ramblers. And a classic case of nun-and-done for the Illini.
Loyola Chicago will next play Oregon State, which topped Oklahoma State 80-70 later Sunday.
“We just executed, played our game and controlled the game from the start,” Krutwig said. “Nobody was really doing anything out of body or out of mind. We just stuck to the game plan.”
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