Tough game. Team was not in the groove early, got into it and made a run but not enough gas in the tank.

Difficult to go from thinking NCAA a week earlier to get up for the NIT. This years edition was a good team. Tied for 1st in A-10, beat a tourney team in Dayton.

My own opinion is they benefited a bit from a down A-10.

As a team they kind of remind me of the post final 4 team in Custers last year. Good team, but just never quite got there.

Should be able to build on the 1st place and Dayton W in the recruiting world.

I kept watching and waiting for the Ramblers to make a comeback....and they did. You have to appreciate their unwillingess to give up or quit! Great team and a lot of fun to watch (post South Florida).

Future looks bright! Just need to avoid huge losses in the portal...if we do that, I think next year looks solid and hopefully the year or two after that are incredible with the talent coming in at the freshman level!

Tough way to end the season but after last year's disaster if you had told me a tie for the regular season championship and NIT--I would have taken it in a heartbeat.

A couple of observations-
Bradley game--we were not ready to play and it is clear that the team thought it was a lot better than it was.
Foul shooting issue, is it me or does it look like some are rushing the shot, it is not a race. Instead of the breakfast club, maybe the summer club would be a better idea.
Drew and the staff need another strong portal season as they are losing a lot and would think some returners. The returners, if they come back are solid but will need a significant upgrade in talent to equal this year’s result. Returners have potential but lack consistency.
Hoping we can find a freshman who can be a contributor for next year.
I would love to see Duquense win a game in the tournament.

Was at the game. My only regret is that I should have had a couple more beers or at least a shot or two at the pregame reception. Was hard to watch..lots of emotions.....stunned early, lots of pride in the comeback and in the end disappointment and the usual melancholy at the end of the season. Not seeing a lot of these players again.
Two thoughts.
1. I really disagree with those who have commented that we did not come to play. My thoughts were the opposite. We were over hyped and trying too hard to our own detriment. We were going toooo fast to the point of being out of control early and the kids looked devastated at the end.
2. Give Bradley some credit. Good game plan on offense and good game plan on defense.

In the end we succumbed to some of our old mistakes.
1. As people have mentioned all year , out poor free throw shooting was going to catch up with us. Not only did we shoot poorly from the line but some were at critical times. The Quin miss that could have gotten us to 3 and kept the pressure on was...ouch.
2. Our bigs while doing some good stuff...really struggle with passing out of double teams and just handling the ball...they combined for 9 turnovers.
3. Early on we got beat on some back door cuts...and gave up offensive rebounds on missed free throws...not gonna mention names
4, Guards could not finish at the rim..

But give Bradley some credit. They are a good team and did some things well.
1. They played 3 bigs almost the whole game and made us look small..and they were super long....7 blocks..
2. Early on they seemed to allow our guards the lane and then had two bigs waiting at the rim.
3. They spaced well on offense and ran the pick and roll from the wing which screwed with our regular help patterns.
4. They kept their composure as we made our run and they MADE their free throws.
5. Only 5 fast break points. they really got back on D....and only 9 points off turnovers...
6. They played good defense and made us earn everything...seldom gave us a clean look at the basket.

Tough way to end the season...but appreciated this team, with all its flaws I admired their continual hustle.
PS..The band was great even though the obo player didnt make it down...and the student bus had two accidents and the students didnt make it till the 2nd half....

I was at the game and agree with the fans that think we weren't ready. We played almost the entire first half without matching the Bradley intensity. If I saw one more Bradley back cut for an easy basket I was going to puke.

One telling stat is that we only had 8 assists. Some of that is bad shooting, but we weren't getting good looks either.

I wonder if Des is just fatigued. He has become like Lucas, expected to play 35-40 minutes a game, defend their best player, and contribute on offense. That's a big load for anyone. Next year Drew may need to manage his minutes a bit.

I know that we preach team, but I think that Drew needs to find a big time scorer, even at the cost of some defense. There were times, especially at the end of the season and against tough teams, where we needed a basket and couldn't find it. Against the lesser teams, Dame provided a needed basket quite often. Last night Bradley smothered him and his game isn't really designed to score quickly. A player that can light it up on occasion could have made a big difference against UIC, Richmond, Bonnies 2 and Bradley.

We have to be honest and realize that our success was against the bottom half of the A10. We beat Dayton, but I'm guessing that we are going to learn quickly that they are over rated. Drew is a good coach and great recruiter. This season he made great adjustments around the holidays, especially on defense, but we have to be better on offense. Even with Braden balling, our guard play has to be better. JQ is a great defender but needs better decision making and scoring. Dawson needs to stay healthy. We could really use a 6'3"+ ball handler that can score. ( I know, LUC and everyone else) We also need an upgrade in athleticism across the board. I'm sure Drew is on the phone.

I hope we can keep Miles and keep developing him. A little more bulk and fewer freshman mistakes and he will be a dominant rim protector and scorer. If he learns to defend without fouling he'll disrupt every team we face.

The NIL situation is problematic. I talked to some LUC people that were on the bus to Peoria and they indicated that players were getting NIL calls/texts on the team bus. Team officials have told me that they think they need AT LEAST $500K per year to compete. I suspect this is an under estimate. If you haven't sent money to Keepers of the Culture please do. I'm sure that the University will object, but if you are a current Loyola doner consider splitting your donation plans to send some money to Keepers. Drew and his coaches need to focus on recruiting and teaching, as fans we need to give him the money he needs and spends as little time possible fundraising.

The committed recruits are an interesting bunch. I'm excited to see them play. Personally, I worry that my enthusiasm for college basketball wanes when teams are forced to rebuild every year. I think fans become emotionally attached to players and love watching the grow into adults and great players. If you lose this attachment will enthusiasm fade? Unfortunately I think so.

The local media continues to ignore us. My friends and I have taken to e-mailing print, radio and TV reporters to complain about it. We have been the best basketball team in Illinois for the past 10+ years, we have one of the best volleyball programs in the nation, or track and field team is outstanding and.our athletes are among the best in GPA and Graduation rates. Why isn't the city celebrating this? Why do I have to hear about DaPaul over and over again when they are continuing to under perform? Please join us in our campaign to make Chicago take notice, send a complaint soon.

Some random thoughts from an old alumni, certainly not well thought out or prepared. A closing thought:

Thanks to the LUC strategic planners and administrators who years ago decided that a basketball led athletics program was critical to the University's long term success and importantly made the investments necessary to make it real. This is a very different place now, more fun, more vibrant, nationally recognized and a better place for students, neighbors and alumni to be. Steve Watson has done an incredible job across all sports and should be recognized, but the unsung heroes are the University Leaders that consciously decided to make it happen. Go Ramblers.

we were five point underdogs playing a road game. It wasn't a great start, but that was close to how it was expected to finish.

Bradley got hammered by Cincinnati. A kid named Jizzle , Jizzle James scored 25 and BU shot 5/23 from 3.