I’ve been enjoying the moment and Loyola basketball for the past four years. I didn’t even watch college basketball until I transferred to Loyola in 2018. After that run I became a super fan, it legit changed my life I’ll watch Loyola basketball until the day I die because of what these guys and a Porter have accomplished over the past four seasons. It was an extremely rare experience even for fans and students to be a part of, I can’t even imagine how great it has been for the players. They put in the work and they’ll forever be legends, well deserved. Things couldn’t have gone any better for new fans like me, I’ve been spoiled by only knowing this team.

And we should've won that Indiana State game. Just ask Porter. He's still bitter about the missed shot clock violation

Ha. Porter getting cheeky on Twitter. This scenario would require him to stick around, too...

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Really? I thought me and Blers were the only people who still cared about that!

I'm enjoying the moment as best I can. Choosing to believe we'll rain down threes all month.

It's hard to not feel tremendous disappointment at not cheering this team on in person though. Especially on senior night. Thanks to everyone on the board for helping make the most of it.

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UGH. That play does still get me Ahunte1, and if you really want to get into it, there was also the missed goaltend at Bradley that took two points off the board for us that season... coulda easily been 17-1... but I suppose I'll just enjoy our best conference record yet in the Valley!

I would love to see Williamson play another year. He's a class act and the chance to start on the path toward a master's degree could pay dividends for a lifetime for him. I'll never forget going into the 2018 tourney run, a HS friend who is a U of Miami alum, told me when looking at the bracket it was Loyola that really concerned him. I laughed when he told me this. U of M had finished at or near the top of the ACC and was ranked all year. He mentioned it to me several times prior to the tournament and he outlined why Loyola had him worried. I continued to laugh it off. I just wanted us to give them a good game and not be embarrassed by a top-tier ACC team. Williamson made a huge play with about 10 seconds left when he stripped a Miami guard and of the ball went off the Miami player's leg. It was classic Lucas. Hands active, good positioning, strong, and committed to defense. Fast forward two days. I jumped on a plane and went to Dallas for the Tennessee game. I had seats right under the basket we attacked in the first half. Tennessee's defense was scary. They were long, intense, physical, and played well as a unit. Our guys looked a little shell-shocked at first. I was really impressed by the whole LU team, but especially Lucas and Clay as they probed the D and coolly moved the ball without turnovers. About half way through the half, we no longer looked in awe of Tennessee. Lucas and Jackson played incredibly on defense in that game. I'll never forget Clay's shot, but I'll always appreciate what Williamson and Jackson gave defensively. (Also Richardson played well defensively). If Lucas stays, I'd be thrilled. If he leaves, I'll be thankful for everything he's given the program.

Nothing better than living in the glow between securing an NCAA bid and that first game. So much possibility.

I'm already assuming an invitation.

Abby asked Porter about it on the coach’s show this morning and the accompanying emojis. Porters response:

“That’s the fun thing about emojis, Abby. They can create a lot of speculation” said with a big grin on his face. Maybe we’ll get lucky...

For what it's worth, here's data on the last three seasons of LU three-point percentage in the regular season vs. such percentage at Arch Madness in STL.

17-18: 39.6% regular season, 32.3% Arch Madness
18-19: 36.6% regular season, 38.8% AM
19-20: 36.7% regular season, 41.2% AM
20-21: 35.4% regular season

In the last two seasons we've outperformed our season percentages - hopefully that trend continues! But even if we drop down in percentage and shoot, say, 30%... that's substantially better than we shot over the weekend against SIU.

Maybe I'll eat my words, but I don't believe three point shooting will be the cause of our demise in this tournament.

Good stats. Last year in St. Louis against Valpo Clemons shot 5-6 from three (although everyone else shot 2-11). Going back and looking at the box score of that game enraged me again. 15-27 from the free throw line. 14-27!!! We were practically begging to lose that game....