Loyola’s Des Watson (0) celebrates with students after the team’s 77-72 win over Dayton in an NCAA college basketball game Friday, March 1, 2024, in Chicago.
Paul Beaty/AP
Loyola’s tournament dreams ended when it opened the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a 75-74 double-overtime loss to St. Bonaventure on Thursday in New York.
But the Ramblers’ season will roll on with an invitation to the NIT and a first-round road game against former Missouri Valley Conference foe Bradley (22-11) at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The game is in Peoria, taking the Ramblers away from Gentile Arena, where they are 15-2 this season. The winner will play the winner of the San Francisco-Cincinnati game.
The Ramblers had a season to remember, finishing 23-9 and 15-3 in the A-10 to give them a share of the regular-season title. The team finished last (10-21, 4-14) in its first season in the A-10 in 2022-23.
Des Watson (12.9 points per game) and Philip Alston (12.8) lead the offense.
Loyola’s last trip to the NIT came in 2019, when it lost to Creighton in the first round.
Bradley, a four-time NIT champion, finished third in the MVC during the regular season and fell to Drake in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
The Big Ten’s Iowa (opening against Kansas State), Minnesota (at Butler) and Ohio State (vs. Cornell) also are in the field.
Indiana, St. John’s, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma (coached by former Loyola coach Porter Moser), Mississippi and Memphis are among the schools that reportedly declined invites to the NIT.
The semifinals and final will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.