DALLAS - Tennessee's next opponent in the NCAA tournament endeared itself to the nation today by emerging as a Cinderella story with a dramatic victory over No. 6 seed Miami.
Loyola-Chicago's Donte Ingram hit a 3-pointer with 0.3 second remaining to lift the 11th-seeded Ramblers over the favored Hurricanes, 64-62.
"Any one of us could have hit that shot," Ingram said. "But I was just fortunate enough to be in the position. And when I seen the shot and I had space, I was confident, and it went in, luckily."
Ingram and his teammates ran over to a spirited contingent of Loyola fans after the final buzzer sounded to celebrate the school's first NCAA tournament win since 1985.
Oh my. Loyola Chicago shocks Miami. Vols will play a budding Cinderella on Saturday. Here's some of the (slightly premature) celebratory moment. pic.twitter.com/QUc0RP4oXf
— David Cobb (@DavidWCobb) March 15, 2018
The Ramblers will carry an 11-game win streak that includes a three-game run through the Missouri Valley Conference tournament into their meeting Saturday with Tennessee.
"The thing about this hot streak, I don't even know if we've even talked about how many we've won in a row. It's all about this mentality of get better," Loyola coach Porter Moser said.
Several of Tennessee's players stayed after the Vols' 73-47 win over Wright State to watch at least part of the Loyola-Miami game. Tennessee assistant coaches Rob Lanier and Desmond Oliver were seated courtside scouting the game for the Volunteers.
Loyola will have to do its scouting of the Vols on Friday. In the immediate aftermath of their emotional victory, the Ramblers didn't know much about their next opponent.
"I've watched a couple of their games," Loyola point guard Clayton Custer said. "I know that big (Admiral) Schofield? Yeah, Schofield. He's good. It's going to be tough. They're in the SEC, so obviously they're a good team."
The Ramblers won 65-59 at Florida in December, which should lessen the mystique of playing a team of the Vols caliber.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.