Solid all around game by the Ramblers. Let's hope we can build off of this. This was the first game that I could attend this year - was very impressed with the crowd. The crowd was probably 60/40....maybe even 67/33 Redbirds fans to Rambler fans, but no matter. It was a lot of fun. A couple off my observations:

1) Oh how I wish Joe Crisman could be an offensive weapon like he was today.. He hit a couple of threes early....then stayed aggressive.
2) Great minutes by King on both ends of the floor, you can see the potential. Very disappointed Porter did not put him back in for a few minutes in the 2nd half.
3) Was that a career high for Osbourne? He looked good on offense - but I am not going to get too excited.

NIce win. Let's hope we can build off of it.

Biggest crowd of the year, thanks to the 600+ that ISU brought. They only got one real chance to cheer loud, when ISU cut it to 9 points with 14:34 in the second half. Earlier in the year Loyola probably would have folded, but Ramblers responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes.

Career high 17 points for Crisman (his previous high was 16 in his freshman year against Detroit).

Finally have my story on today's game up on the website. Here's the link: http://thecatchandshoot.com/loyola-blow ... ng-streak/

Just a few thoughts...
What a game from Osborne. Career-high in points and tied his career-high in rebounds. He also showed some agility today sticking it out defensively against some of Illinois State's quicker guards.
Also they got this win with basically nothing from Turk who had been a big offensive catalyst in some of their other wins.

I wish I would be able to go to the MVC tournament in a few weeks. These guys could definitely lose on Thursday night but it also wouldn't be surprising to see them win a game or two in St. Louis.

the Ramblers not only played a confident game this team was prepared defensively and offensively. They took a big lead as they shredded the 1-3-1 ISU started with forcing them to switch to a 2-3. They were prepared for the press and got some easy buckets and defensively in the first half used their center to help keep the guards out of the paint off the pick and roll. 2nd half ISU adjusted and cleared out the post so their little quick guards could get to the basket but sorry fellows too late. Also after the last game PM said they did not get enough touches in the paint and dribbled it around too much but he would clean that up and what do you know we really got the ball inside today and had a ton of assists.I was still not convinced that PM was a good coach but todays game convinced me PM can coach. Also it looks like we are getting to a 9 man rotation.
GOOOO RAMBLERS

Give credit to Loyola's band director and whoever controls our canned PA system (Pat Schultz?). Combined, they managed to drown out ISU's cheers and tamp down the momentum.

It is amazing how much more satisfying is a real win, rather than a "moral victory."

This was the first game of the year I was able to attend. My roommate is a Redbird, so we had this game circled as a new "rivalry." It was nice to be on campus again and see the Ramblers get a win.