Loyola Marymount, which ran into the record books this season, walked into the final eight Friday night.
Held to half their average and lowest output in three years, the 11th-seeded Lions (26-5) prolonged their dramatic run in the NCAA tournament by surviving Alabama's plodding style for a 62-60 victory in the West Regional semifinals.Terrell Lowery's driving layup with 33 seconds left provided another improbable victory in an improbable postseason. That made it three straight wins since the death of center Hank Gathers just 19 days ago, and followed Loyola's record-breaking 149-115 rout of defending champion Michigan.
The Lions now will seek a first-ever spot in the Final Four in Sunday's regional final against No. 2 Nevada-Las Vegas (32-5). The Runnin' Rebels beat Loyola 102-91 in the season opener in a game that, like all the rest, bore little resemblance to Friday night.
"It was a hard game for us to hang in on because it was much unlike the way we play," Lions coach Paul Westhead said. "Give credit to Wimp (Coach Sanderson) and the Alabama team. It was their game, their style and their pace."
And their season-ending loss.
The Lions advanced farther than they've ever gone despite being held far under their nation-leading average of 125. Bo Kimble, the country's top scorer with a 35.7-point average, finished with only 19, and Loyola scored less than 91 points for the first time all year.
But the basket by Lowery, a sophomore from Oakland who scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, provided just enough to keep Loyola on the court. The 6-foot-2 guard emerged from a scramble in the lane with the ball and hit the layup.
"Bo kind of lost the handle. The ball was floating near the free-throw line. I got to it faster than one of the Alabama players did," Lowery explained matter-of-factly.
"It was an ugly game," Kimble said. "But to be able to win under these circumstances, it was just great to get it over with."
Alabama (26-9) had its eight-game winning streak snapped despite becoming the first team this year to figure out how to stop Loyola's breakneck offense, shutting down the Lions with a slowdown offense and quick inside defense.
"I've never had a team play as close to the way we wanted them to play from a technical standpoint," said Sanderson, a coach or assistant at Alabama for the last 30 years. "They did everything we wanted.
"Do you have any idea how difficult that is to play? We had every opportunity to win, and we didn't."
The No. 23-ranked Tide, seventh seeded in the region, had two last chances to win following Lowery's layin.
Melvin Cheatum, who scored 17 second-half points to tie teammate Robert Horry with 21, missed an inside shot with seven seconds left.
Then, in a situation reminiscent of Connecticut's shocking win over Clemson the night before, Lowery missed a free throw with 3.6 seconds left and Alabama called time out. Horry took a length-of-the-court pass and narrowly missed a 15-foot turnaround at the buzzer.
"No one player, no one play, lost the game," Sanderson said. "A loose ball caromed on the floor, they came up with it and got a layup."
Alabama had surged ahead 49-41 with 8:05 remaining after the 6-foot-9 Horry triggered a nine-point run by blocking two of Kimble's shots underneath in a 20-second span. He hit a free throw when Kimble was slapped with a technical foul after the second rejection and also had a layup in the run, while Cheatum scored twice.
But Lowery immediately answered with a 3-pointer and the Lions stepped up the pace. Kimble made a 3-point shot and a layup to bring the nation's sentimental favorites back to within 54-53.
Loyola regained the lead at 57-56 with 2:30 left on Tom Peabody's driving layup, but two soft jumpers by Cheatum in the lane offset Fryer's 3-pointer, the second tying it at 60-all with 1:18 to go.
Jeff Fryer, averaging 32 points in two previous NCAA games, scored just 13 as Loyola shot just 34 percent. Alabama shot 49 percent, including 65 percent in the second half.
The Lions' 62 points represented their lowest total since February 1987 when they lost 82-48 to San Diego. It was just the fourth time this year they've been held under 100.