Loyola, down 20-8, saves its season with grind-it-out first-half turnaround

ATLANTA — It seemed like an avalanche of Loyola turnovers, but, 20 minutes into the game, the Ramblers had committed only six of them.

It seemed like every other Ramblers shot had been swatted into the Georgia night, but it turned out Nevada had gotten its rejecting hands on only five.

The first half of Thursday’s unlikely Sweet 16 matchup between the South Region’s Nos. 7 and 11 seeds seemed in danger of completely getting away from the underdog Ramblers, but whom was anyone kidding with that noise?

There’s no getting away from the Ramblers, who beat the Wolf Pack 69-68. They are the story of this NCAA Tournament.

There would be no Elite Eight chapter of this saga if not for a comeback from a 20-8 deficit that probably felt even larger to fans watching in the taverns and at the house parties of Rogers Park. The Wolf Pack were longer, quicker and, in every way, more impressive to the eye. Things just didn’t look good.

But during the next timeout, according to freshman guard Lucas Williamson, coach Porter Moster told his team: “We don’t have to do anything crazy. We don’t need any home-run plays.”

It was time to grind.

By the time junior point guard Clayton Custer made the team’s first three-pointer of the game with 7:33 to play in the half, the score was 24-19. A pair of Custer layups — the second after a steal and end-to-end dash — brought the Ramblers to within one. And they finally took their first lead at 25-24 on two Marques Townes free throws with 2:16 left.

A Townes three from the right corner — foreshadowing his shot from the same spot that would that would all but seal the victory in the second half — made it 28-24 at the half.

The Wolf Pack went into the intermission having been held scoreless for 7:55. They had to have been wondering what had hit them.

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Email: sgreenberg@suntimes.com