FIVE!? FIVE FOULS!?! This tournament has been one of the worst officiated I’ve seen. Evansville got screwed hard against ISU Thursday as well. But that was a nightmare; we didn’t play great but still. FIVE!?

Cooper and Lucas hit big shots all day; hope Kruts okay. This sucks.

It's cliché' to blame the officiating after a loss - in the end -- we had the ball with a chance to win -- so that's on us... But it is very frustrating when you see such a glaring discrepancy in the fouls called against Bradley in this game, compared to the fouls called against them the entire year in the Valley. They didn't just stop fouling and played the best defensive game of the year... The games were called one way all season - and for whatever reason, this time -- the refs changed the style of play they wanted to see. If we shot better, the lack of foul calls would not have put us in the position we were in... But damn... Last year's losss to Michigan hurt -- but I didn't feel like we got screwed. It really feels like we got cheated in this game...

I don't think we had the toughness, the will, or the personnel to go all the way this season. Plus, we didn't wear the target very well-- that was obvious from the Furman loss, the Evansville loss, the Missouri State losses, and today. Several times this season, other teams beat us out of what seemed like sheer desire to win. You saw teams like Drake through the season and Bradley toward the end fighting to win as though their lives depended on it. We were a very good team, and often seemed to believe that just being very good would be enough.

Part of the reason we did so well last year was because we really, really wanted it. You never, ever got the feeling last year that our focus was diverted or that we lost sight of the end goal. This year, we didn't have the same focus, the same hunger, the same fight. It wasn't always evident, but you saw some hints of complacency, some smugness almost.... even in very close games.

Congrats to Bradley.... they wanted that win more than us, obviously. They have chosen us as the team they most want to beat.... like UIC did in the old days. The refs let them get away with a lot of strong arm stuff, a lot of things that other teams get called for because they haven't perfected it. That's their game. That's why they look ABSOLUTELY MYSTIFIED when the refs call a foul on them in a road game.... even flagrant fouls.... They simply do not understand it. They become petulant and demonstrably upset at even obvious calls against them. Not many of those today...

We played, it seemed, at about 55% of our capabilities, and Bradley played at about 80% of their best. And we dropped a game we should have won if two of Krutwig's six point-blank misses fall, or if two of Townes' 10 missed layup attempts go in.

Oh well...I'm no longer feeling down about this.

It only feels slightly disappointing because we all had such high expectations for this season (which, as proud alums, fans, supporters etc...we should always have high expectations for all of our programs). Regardless of the outcome, I think many of us can agree that this was still a good season. Back in the dark days of Loyola basketball, we would have given anything to have a 20 win season and a chance to play in the NIT.

Ramblers, you've made us proud! Thank you to all the players, coaches and staff for representing our university with class.

Onward to the NIT!

The NIT isn’t nothing. It’s a recognition of winning the regular season title. Feel bad for Custer and Townes to go out with supbpar games. Throughout the year this felt more and more like a “bridge” year. It’s not a small thing that we still walk away from this season with a regular season title and NIT bid, with a team of mostly underclassmen. Some people may think this is the end of our run, because Townes and Custer will be gone next year, but I see some great years ahead. Let the doubters be surprised with us next year.

IMO. If our recruits for next season honor their commitments and we do not lose anybody to transfer, we have an excellent chance for another MVC title and a run in the NCAA in two years.

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Let's go Braden!

We could have used John Crnokrak this afternoon.

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Let's go Braden!

It feels frustrating because everyone - nationally, MVC, & Loyola - fell in the trap of forgetting how young and behind the 8 ball the non-core guys were. “Bridge year” was a perfect description. NIT in a bridge year is a good year. Next year is a rebuild year. Then back to contending.

Feel for Drake. If it wasn’t us, they deserved that bid.

I just visited the MVCFans board. There was no mention of questionable officiating, so some of us must be hallucinating. One poster stated that Bradley had not won a Valley title since 1988, and never in St Louis. Maybe the conference decided that it was their turn. Let's see if they flub it like Hillary did.

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Let's go Braden!

We lost the game officiating aside, don’t give me that bs.