LYNCHBURG—In the battle of Flames, Tarkus Ferguson scored 16 points and UIC beat Liberty 67-51 on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the CIT.UIC closed the first half on an 8-3 run for 28-24 lead and held the first double-digit lead of the game at 40-29 on Godwin Boahen’s 3-pointer. Michael Diggins started a 14-0 run with a 3-pointer, Boahen’s 3 capped it for a 56-37 advantage and UIC led by at least 14 the rest of the way.Boahen finished with 13 points, Marcus Ottey had 12 and Tai Odiase 11 for UIC (20-15), which has won nine consecutive road games for the first time in program history.UIC will play for the title on Friday night at Northern Colorado.Lovell Cabbil scored 13 points for Liberty (22-15) and Myo Baxter-Bell added 10. Liberty was held to 33 percent shooting, including 5 of 20 from distance.

ATLANTA—Loyola has captured the hearts of college basketball fans everywhere this March, and now it will have a chance to compete for a national championship on the game’s biggest stage after beating Kansas State 78-62 to be crowned as champions of the South Region. Senior guard Ben Richardson scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Ramblers, who will play Michigan in the Final Four. Arguably the toughest corner of the bracket, the one with the overall No. 1 seed and four conference tournament champions, has been where we’ve found this year’s most unlikely outcomes, from the first-ever 16-over-1 upset to a mid-major from the Missouri Valley Conference making a Final Four run as a No. 11-seed. On the court Loyola packed all of the thrills, beating the third-place team in the ACC (Miami), the SEC regular season co-champions (Tennessee) and the Mountain West champions (Nevada) by a combined four points. Off the court Loyola introduced the rest of the country to Sister Jean, a kind-hearted and noble face of the NCAA Tournament after a season mostly defined by scandal tied to an ongoing corruption investigation by the FBI. Loyola’s team fits the model of what so many love about college basketball and this tournament as well. This group doesn’t wow you with size or speed when they get off the bus, but the ball moves faster than any player and no one passes the ball better as a team than the Ramblers. There isn’t a bad passer on the team, and any one of the rotation players has the potential to to be the team’s primary offensive threat on a given night. It’s one of the things that makes Loyola so good in the closing moments of these close games: opponents can’t turn their attention to any one player because anyone on the floor could potentially be the go-to guy of the moment. The unusual way the region unfolded gave Loyola an Elite Eight foe different from the top seeds that George Mason and VCU had to beat in 2006 and 2011. After beating a No. 6, a No. 3 and a No. 7, the last test was No. 9 Kansas State. The way the game unfolded broke the mold from previous tournament wins as well, with Loyola leading by as many as 21 in the second half and then holding on for the program-defining win in the final minutes.

ATLANTA—With Loyola’s captivating NCAA Tournament run hanging in the balance, it was Marques Townes’ turn to deliver another memorable finish.Townes had scored only a combined 15 points in Loyola’s first two NCAA Tournament games, but that didn’t concern Ramblers coach Porter Moser. Townes had the ball in front of the Loyola bench in the final seconds Thursday night and the shot clock about to expire.With Loyola clinging to a one-point lead and only 6.3 seconds remaining, Townes nailed the decisive 3-pointer to help clinch a 69-68 win over Nevada in the NCAA South Regional semifinal.

”He was a warrior,” Moser said.
Townes, who had 18 points, charged down the court, pumping his fist, following the shot.

”I’ll probably remember it for the rest of my life,” Townes said. ”I mean, it doesn’t really get any better than that.”

Following a timeout, Nevada’s Caleb Martin answered with a 3, but this time the Wolf Pack couldn’t extend their string of second-half comebacks in the tournament.

”Got to give so much credit to Nevada, they never quit,” Moser said. ”Those guys keep coming at you, coming at you. … I was blessed we made a couple of plays at the end, got a couple of stops.”

The win leaves the No. 11th-seeded Ramblers, the biggest surprise in a regional that has lost its top four seeds, one victory from a Final Four appearance. Loyola (31-5), which has won three tournament games by a combined four points, awaits Kentucky game in Saturday’s regional final.Not bad for a program that hadn’t been in the Sweet 16 in 33 years.On a team that shares the spotlight, this was Townes’ moment. He made each of his two 3s and led Loyola with five assists. He said he was fine after banging knees with Nevada’s Jordan Caroline at the end of the game.

”I think Marques Townes is the best player on the court tonight,” said Loyola guard Clayton Custer. ”I don’t even think it was close, either. … This is unbelievable. Feels like a dream.”

Martin led Nevada (29-8) with 21 points. Twin brother Cody Martin had 16. Jordan Carolina added 19.

”We get a stop on the 3 they shot at the buzzer and maybe we’re sitting up here with a win,” said Nevada coach Eric Musselman.
Caleb Martin bemoaned his missed defensive opportunity before Townes’ big 3.

”I should have denied the catch,” Martin said of Loyola’s pass to Townes. ”I just got lost and it was costly.”

Loyola trailed by 12 points, at 20-8, midway through the first half but stormed back to lead 28-24 at halftime. Loyola closed the half with a 20-4 run as Nevada didn’t score in the final 7:55 before the break.Loyola pushed the ball in the paint on almost every possession. The Ramblers’ first 10 points came on layups.Loyola’s relentless attack on the basket continued as it stretched its lead, one layup at a time, in the second half.

NOTES—Loyola showed strong poise by sticking with their game plan to attack the basket, even when the Wolf Pack collected five blocks in the first half. Loyola took a 46-34 advantage in points in the paint…..Four members of Loyola’s famous 1963 NCAA championship team had front-row seats: Jerry Harkness, Les Hunter, John Egan and Rich Rochelle. In the final minutes of the game, Harkness could be heard saying, ”We need a stop. We just need a stop.”….Also attending the game was Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, Loyola’s 98-year-old team chaplain who has become a celebrity during the tournament. ”It was getting pretty bad. I thought I might have to resort to my nitro (nitroglycerin), but I didn’t have to do that,” she said after the win. She also had a word of caution for Loyola’s next opponent: ”Here we come, next team, whoever you are.”…..Nevada’s experience in second-half comebacks paid off. After Loyola’s layup by Custer gave the Ramblers their last 10-point lead at 57-47, the Wolf Pack charged back. Cody Martin’s basket started a 12-2 run, and his layup tied the game at 59-all with 4:06 remaining.This time, however, Nevada couldn’t regain the lead…..The Ramblers will face Ks State-Kentucky regional semifinal in Saturday’s regional final.

It started when Nikola Jokic was introduced with Denver’s starting lineup, and the cheering continued throughout the night. There were chants of ”Serbia! Serbia!” Jokic felt right at home in Chicago.The 7-foot center had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists on ”Serbian Heritage Night,” leading the Nuggets to a runaway 135-102 victory over the Bulls on Wednesday.

”The ovations, the fans, the people from Serbia did bring the flags,” Jokic said, ”I mean when Serbia is playing this is the atmosphere. Just imagine the whole arena is doing that. The whole Serbian population, people, love basketball.”

Denver shot 61.4 percent (51 for 83) from the field and had seven players score in double figures. Paul Millsap had 22 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes, and Wilson Chandler made five of the Nuggets’ 20 3-pointers on his way to 19 points.The Nuggets (39-33) led by as many as 46 while improving to 1-2 on a seven-game trip. They also pulled within 1 1/2 games of idle Utah for eighth in the Western Conference playoff race.

”Anytime on the road you’re able to build a 40-point lead, your guys are playing at a high level,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.

Jokic went 9 for 11 from the field and made each of his two 3-point tries. He called the warm reception ”really, really cool,” and his teammates also got a kick out of the Serbian contingent in the crowd of 20,671.

”It was a home game for him,” a grinning Millsap said. ”Definitely a home game for him. I see why he was feeling it out there.”

Cristiano Felicio scored 16 points for the Bulls (24-47), who have dropped four of five. Bobby Portis had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Noah Vonleh finished with 14 points.

”We are not coming out with any type of edge whatsoever, and we’re allowing teams to gain confidence in games, and it just goes downhill from there,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.

The Bulls played without Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine due to injuries, and veteran center Robin Lopez did not dress. Dunn has a right toe sprain, Markkanen has been bothered by lower back spasms and LaVine is out with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.LaVine (16.7 points per game), Markkanen (14.9) and Dunn (13.4) are the Bulls’ top three scorers after Nikola Mirotic was traded to New Orleans last month.

”When you lose, it hurts until midnight,” Portis said. ”Then, when midnight comes, you worry about the next game.”

The Nuggets opened a 33-23 lead on Jokic’s layup with 1:15 left in the first quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage for the rest of the game. Once a fast shooting start for the Bulls wore off, it was never in doubt.The lead ballooned to 20 for the first time on Chandler’s layup with 5:52 left in the first half. It got up to 30 when Jokic and Will Barton hit consecutive 3-pointers, making it 74-44 with 58.2 seconds remaining in the quarter.Jokic then made a slick pass to set up Jamal Murray’s three-point play, helping Denver to a 77-46 halftime lead. The Nuggets shot 68.3 percent (28 for 41) from the field in their highest-scoring first half of the season.The playoff race doesn’t mean very much for the lowly Bulls as the season winds down. It’s the results for the teams at the bottom of the standings that affect the Bulls in terms of positioning for their pick in the draft lottery.Antonio Blakeney had six points on 3-for-10 shooting after he was listed as questionable due to a left wrist sprain. … The Bulls made their first four 3-point attempts and finished 13 for 38 from beyond the arc. They went 3 for 30 from long range during Monday night’s 110-92 loss to the New York Knicks.

CLARKSVILLE—UIC has advanced to the semifinals of the 10th CollegeInsider.com Tournament by knocking off Austin Peay in thrilling fashion Wednesday night, topping the Governors 83-81 at the Dunn Center.The Flames (19-15) trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half. The Governors (19-15) made one-of-two free throws with 10.4 seconds remaining to tie the game and called timeout to set up the defense. Godwin Boahen took the inbound pass from Tarkus Ferguson and dribbled across the timeline. He darted inside the arc and launched a jumper with 1.4 seconds remaining that propelled the visiting team to victory.Boahen, making his second straight start, was one of four Flames in double figures with 16 points. Ferguson led the squad with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists.It was the eighth consecutive road win for UIC, the most in program history. Wednesday’s victory marks the first time that the Flames have won at least 19 games in a single season since the 2003-04 campaign.UIC will play in the semifinals on Wednesday, March 28. The opponent and location will be announced soon.

Nathan MacKinnon had two assists, extending his point streak to a career high-tying 13 games, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Blackhawks 5-1 on Tuesday night.Alexander Kerfoot scored twice and Semyon Varlamov made 44 saves as Colorado won for the fifth time in six games and improved to 8-1-3 in their last 12. Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Barrie each had a goal and an assist, and Erik Johnson added an empty-netter.The Avalanche (40-25-8) snapped a tie with Anaheim for the top spot in the Western Conference wild-card race and moved within two points of Minnesota for third place in the Central Division.

”It’s crunch time and I think, not just myself, but everyone is playing really well,” said MacKinnon, who has 13 goals and 13 assists during his streak. ”We’re finding our gear and Varly has been really good, too. If you don’t have goaltending, you’re not going to win in this league, obviously. He’s been awesome.”

The Hawks (30-35-9) lost for the sixth time in seven games. Defenseman Brent Seabrook scored his fifth goal of the season for the Blackhawks, and Anton Forsberg made 35 stops in his first start since he was pulled in the first period of Thursday night’s 6-2 loss at Winnipeg.The last-place Blackhawks were eliminated from postseason contention with the loss. They had made the playoffs for nine straight seasons, winning three Stanley Cups.

”We had a disappointing second half to the season, to say the least,” star forward Patrick Kane said. ”It seemed like a lot of the games throughout the year went the way they did tonight: We score first and give up one, lose momentum and can’t regain it. Disappointing season? Yep.”

Seabrook’s power-play goal put the Blackhawks in front with 4:15 left in the first period, but Colorado responded with three in the second.With Andreas Martinsen in the box for slashing, a wide-open Kerfoot jumped on a rebound and beat Forsberg from the slot at 2:07. Kerfoot snapped a 14-game drought with his 16th of the season.The Avalanche then grabbed a 2-1 lead on their next shot. MacKinnon drew Forsberg over to one side of the net before playing it across to Rantanen for the easy one-timer at 5:01.

”We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now and our top line has been really hot,” Kerfoot said. ”We know we can score goals and obviously with Varly playing like that, we’re a tough team to beat.”

Rantanen extended his point streak to seven games. The 21-year-old forward is tied with MacKinnon for most points in the NHL in March with 20 apiece.Rantanen and MacKinnon each picked up an assist when Barrie scored from the high slot on another power play, making it 3-1 at 12:40. Barrie extended his career-best point streak to 11 games, the longest run for an Avalanche defenseman since the franchise moved to Colorado.The Hawks had three more power-play chances in the third, but came up empty each time. Johnson scored from the other end of the ice at 18:04, and Kerfoot made it 5-1 when he beat Forsberg with 57 seconds remaining.

NOTES—Blackhawks C Matthew Highmore was scratched after he went hard into the boards during the second period of Sunday night’s loss to St. Louis. Martinsen was recalled on an emergency basis from the minors and put a big hit on Avalanche D Nikita Zadorov in the first period.

DALLAS—Loyola’s Sweet 16 dreams bounced on the front of the rim, lightly touched the backboard, and rattled a couple times before slipping through the net.Another prayer answered in the waning seconds, and now Sister Jean’s Ramblers are heading to Atlanta.Clayton Custer’s jumper got that friendly bounce with 3.6 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Loyola beat Tennessee 63-62 in a South Region second-round game Saturday night.Custer’s winner came two days after Donte Ingram’s buzzer-beating 3 from the March Madness logo against Miami, surely to the delight of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the team chaplain and occasional coach, watching from her wheelchair on a platform near the main TV cameras.

”The only thing I can say, glory to God for that one,” Custer said. ”The ball bounced on the rim and I got a good bounce.”

The Ramblers were the long-shot story of the first round – until 16th-seed UMBC beat No. 1 Virginia to pull off the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history. That’ll be hard for the Ramblers (30-5) to top, but they’re working on it.The Missouri Valley champions broke the school record for wins set by the 1963 NCAA championship team. The small Catholic college on the North Side of Chicago will play Nevada in the regional semifinals Thursday in Atlanta.No. 3 seed Tennessee (26-7) took its only lead of the second half on a three-point play by Grant Williams with 20 seconds remaining.After Loyola almost lost the ball on an out-of-bounds call confirmed on replay, Custer took the inbounds pass with 10 seconds left, dribbled left and then right, pulled up and let go of the winner.The Vols’ Jordan Bone got a decent look at last-gasp 3, but it bounced away, and Custer threw the ball off the scoreboard high above the court as he was mobbed by teammates in the same spot that the Ramblers celebrated Ingram’s dramatic winner.The Ramblers fell behind 15-6 in less than 5 minutes before the Volunteers missed their next nine shots and fell behind for the first time on Custer’s 3-pointer with 6 minutes left in the first half.Admiral Schofield scored 11 of those first 15 Tennessee points but didn’t score again until a 3 nearly 32 minutes later that started a rally from a 10-point deficit in the final 4 minutes by the SEC regular-season co-champions.Tennessee coach Rick Barnes lost at American Airlines Center, home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, for the first time in six NCAA games. The first four wins were during his 17 seasons leading the Texas Longhorns.Schmidt, a high school basketball player in San Francisco in the 1930s who leads the pregame prayer and gives the players feedback after, wasn’t the only one pulling hard for Loyola.Late-arriving fans waiting for crowd favorite Texas Tech in the late game joined the raucous Ramblers supporters wearing maroon-and-gold scarfs and standing almost the entire game in sections across the court from their team’s bench.Aundre Jackson, who grew up in the Dallas area, led Loyola with 16 points, and Custer had 10. Schofield scored 14 for Tennessee.A special run continues and the Ramblers might not be one-year wonders. Several key players will be back, including Custer, fellow junior guard Marques Townes and freshman center Cameron Krutwig. The Ramblers probably won’t have to wait another 33 years this time.Tennessee: Letting a quick lead get away will hurt for the Vols, although the rally is a boost for a starting lineup with no seniors. It was the first NCAA trip in three seasons at Tennessee for Barnes, who took the Longhorns 16 times in 17 years.

DALLAS—Donte Ingram picked the perfect spot for this game-winning shot.Ingram hit a 3-pointer from the March Madness logo just before the buzzer, lifting 11th-seeded Loyola over Miami 64-62 in a Thursday thriller at the NCAA Tournament.

”Well, it’s pretty simple to know why we call it March Madness,” said Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga, left holding his head in stunned disbelief after Ingram’s shot.

In 2006, Larranaga took 11th-seeed George Mason to the Final Four. This time, it was Loyola’s turn to celebrate after making its first tournament appearance in 33 years.The long shot from well beyond the key came with just a split-second left, and was set up by a pass from Marques Townes. It happened after Lonnie Walker IV missed a free throw with a chance to give Miami a three-point lead with 9 seconds remaining.

”I thank Marques for making that pass,” said Ingram, who was 3 of 8 from 3 and scored 13 points. ”Any one of us could have hit that shot, but I was just fortunate enough to be in the position.”

The Ramblers (29-5) matched the school record for wins from their 1963 national championship team in their first NCAA trip since losing to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the Sweet 16 in 1985. They advanced to face third-seeded Tennessee on Saturday.Loyola, with an 11-game winning streak that is its longest since winning the NCAA title, was boosted by a pregame prayer from its team chaplain, 98-year-old Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt.She’s held that post for more than two decades and, sitting courtside in her wheelchair, got hugs from the Ramblers when it was over.

”I just gave a big sigh of relief and said, `Thank God,”’ she told The Associated Press about Ingram’s shot.

The sixth-seeded Hurricanes (22-10) led most of the second half in their third straight trip to the tournament, but couldn’t pull away in the final minutes and lost in the first round for the second straight year.The buzzer sounded as Ingram’s shot went in, and the Ramblers celebrated wildly in front of the raucous fans wearing maroon-and-gold scarfs in the American Airlines Center sections across from their bench.But officials put 0.3 seconds back on the clock, forcing Loyola to gather on the bench and postponing the celebration until after a desperation full-court pass bounced away harmlessly.The game-winner came after coach Porter Moser initially signaled for a timeout after Walker’s missed free throw, but then motioned his players to bring the ball up the court.

”After they made that shot, I mean, it’s definitely a dagger to the heart,” said Walker, who led the Hurricanes with 12 points. ”It definitely hurts seeing a shot like that go down, but I’m proud of my team.”

Clayton Custer hit a tying 3 in the final 2 minutes and led Loyola with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range.Most of Moser’s key players should be back next season, giving the Ramblers a chance to keep the NCAA appearances coming after such a long drought and such a big win.The Hurricanes were back in Texas five years after winning twice in Austin to advance to the Sweet 16. They looked they’d have another shot at that until Ingram’s stunner.Trailing 62-61, Lucas Williamson gave Loyola another shot at the lead after Townes missed one of two free throws with a chance to tie. Williamson knocked the ball off Walker’s leg, but the Ramblers missed two attempts the rim, leading to Walker’s missed free throw.With Miami’s season over, Loyola advances to play third-seeded Tennessee in the second round.

Sebastian Aho and the Carolina Hurricanes are more interested in the standings than the situation in the team’s front office.Aho snapped a tie with a power-play goal in the third period, and the Hurricanes beat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Thursday night in their first game since Ron Francis was forced out as general manager.

”You’ve got to do your job no matter what,” Aho said, ”so just tried to focus on the whole game and just play the best game that you can.”

Justin Williams had a goal and an assist as Carolina stayed four points back of Columbus for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Jaccob Slavin also scored, and Scott Darling made 22 saves in his return to Chicago after he was traded to Carolina in April.The Hurricanes (30-27-11) had dropped eight of 10, and new owner Tom Dundon announced a front-office shake-up on Wednesday night. Francis was moved from GM to a new role as the team’s president of hockey operations, and Dundon said the team will begin a search for a new GM who will report directly to the owner.Tomas Jurco and Patrick Sharp scored for the last-place Hawks (29-31-8), who had won two of three. Jean-Francois Berube made 37 stops.With Sharp in the box for interference, Aho tipped Teuvo Teravainen’s shot by Berube 4:35 into the final period. It was Aho’s team-high 24th goal of the season.Carolina controlled most of the first two periods, outshooting Blackhawks 28-14, but they stayed in the game behind a pair of nice plays.Jurco redirected Brent Seabrook’s slap shot by Darling for a 1-0 lead at 6:02 of the first. After Slavin beat Berube with a slap shot through traffic, Sharp made it 2-1 when he backhanded a rebound into an open net at 15:06 before being pushed to the ice by Carolina forward Jordan Staal.Williams was sent off for hooking with 62 seconds left in the first, but he stepped out of the box early in the second, got a long stretch pass from Elias Lindholm and beat Berube high on the glove side on a breakaway at 1:06. It was Williams’ fourth goal in five games and No. 14 on the season.Carolina then had a chance to go in front, but Berube made a solid glove save on Brett Pesce’s breakaway midway through the period.

”We got the lead there but it was a fortunate couple of plays,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. ”We didn’t play very well. Puck management is something we talk about a lot, and that second period was tough.”

NOTES—The 23-year-old Teravainen leads the Hurricanes with career highs of 34 assists and 53 points. He was traded by the Hawks to Carolina in June 2016. … The Blackhawks announced another contract extension for one of their young defensemen, agreeing to a one-year deal with Jan Rutta that runs through next season. The 27-year-old Rutta has six goals and 13 assists in 44 games in his first NHL season. D Erik Gustafsson, who turns 26 on Wednesday, agreed to a two-year extension on Tuesday. … Quenneville coached his 1,607th regular-season game, matching Al Arbour for second-most in NHL history. … Lindholm had two assists. ”I thought he was the best player in the game,” coach Bill Peters said. Blackhawks: Visit Boston on Saturday afternoon.