ATLANTA — The police escort for the bus that brought Loyola’s team from its hotel to Philips Arena for practice never showed up. Then the bus driver got lost.
Not in a million years is that how any coach would draw up the day before the Sweet 16.
“Our guys handled it a lot better than me,” said coach Porter Moser, whose 11th-seeded Ramblers bustled onto the court 10 minutes behind schedule for their final full practice before Thursday night’s South Regional semifinal against seventh-seeded Nevada. “I guess my immaturity came out. But, no, it was frustrating. But when we got here, everybody was great.”
RELATED STORIES Ingram, Caroline share Sweet reunion The untold story of Sister Jean
According to Moser, it took 35-40 minutes to make what should’ve been a much quicker ride to the arena. The Ramblers had to scramble to start practicing and not push back Nevada’s, Kansas State’s and Kentucky’s schedules any further.
“I told our guys it was our first thing to overcome,” he said. “It’s like getting a couple turnovers early. You’ve got to put it behind you and overcome.”
OK, so it’s not exactly up there with Michigan’s team plane sliding off the runway after trying to take off for last year’s Big Ten tournament.
“I knew Porter was not happy about what was happening,” point guard Clayton Custer said. “We were driving around, driving around, and then when we finally made it, I knew he was going to say something to somebody. But I think he kept his cool pretty good there. I think he did a pretty good job.”
Follow me on Twitter @SLGreenberg.
Email: sgreenberg@suntimes.com
