Loyola-Chicago is in the final four after a rout of Kansas state

The Ramblers will face Michigan next weekend in the national semifinals in San Antonio.

“This is something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid,” said senior guard Ben Richardson, who was named the South Region’s most valuable player.

“This is something all these guys around me have been working hard to achieve. We knew we belonged here. We knew we could play with anyone out there. We have shown it.”

Saturday’s victory promised to keep the team’s 98-year-old chaplain, scout and inspiration, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, in the spotlight for at least another week. It also fulfilled a prophecy by Sister Jean, who picked her beloved Ramblers to reach the national title game in one of her brackets. She called it her Cinderella bracket.

The Ramblers’ mindset was perhaps best demonstrated when Richardson, with 16 minutes, 54 seconds left in the game, launched a 3-point shot over Kamau Stokes, making it and drawing a foul.

By the time Richardson had completed a rare 4-point play, the Ramblers were up 45-29, and the Loyola faithful — who had swarmed this city and swelled Philips Arena with maroon and gold — were on their feet and in noisy euphoria, their sights set on San Antonio.

The 11th-seeded Ramblers had captured the imagination of even casual sports fans by relying on hustle and sharpshooting to win their three previous games in heart-stopping fashion, by a combined 4 points.

Led by Richardson’s 23 points Saturday, Loyola outshot (57.4 percent to 35.4 percent), outrebounded (36-28) and outhustled ninth-seeded Kansas State.

The Ramblers became the fourth No. 11 seed to advance to the men’s Final Four, joining Louisiana State (1986), George Mason (2006) and Virginia Commonwealth (2011). A No. 11 seed has never played in the national championship game.

“Why not us?" Loyola coach Porter Moser asked. “These guys have had a laserlike focus on what’s been ahead of them.”

Kansas State was trying to return to the Final Four for the first time since 1964, and looked worthy of getting there when it defeated Kentucky, 61-58, on Thursday.

But the Ramblers opened Saturday’s game with a high-speed assault, dropping in 3-pointers against Kansas State. Richardson was 3 for 3 beyond the 3-point arc as the Ramblers went on a 15-4 run to take a 19-9 lead and put the Wildcats on their heels. Loyola kept them there by powering through the lane for twisting layups — two of which resulted in fouls and 3-point plays.

The Wildcats were stunned after Loyola rode 55 percent shooting to a 36-24 halftime lead. Things did not get any better for Kansas State in the second half as the Ramblers kept up their sizzling shooting for a 20-point lead. Even when the Ramblers went scoreless for more than four minutes, the Wildcats managed only to whittle Loyola’s lead to 13.

Once again it was Richardson holding up the Ramblers, drilling a 3-pointer with a little more than four minutes to play.

“I was locked in,” said Richardson, who was 6 for 7 from past the 3-point line. “We got so many guys that are unselfish and they were finding me. It was my turn to step up today.”

With 2:32 left, Loyola’s Marques Townes streaked to the basket, dropped in a finger roll and was fouled. He converted the 3-point play, and the Ramblers were up 17 and unquestionably in control.

Now, the Ramblers are going to San Antonio, because they believed. They still do. They are going because they were greedy. They still are.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.