Ramble on!

Good morning! It’s March, and with so much news going on we’ve hit the point where The Daily is switching to a 7-day-a-week schedule — you know, Daily — so expect to get some additional emails on Saturdays and Sundays.

So let’s dive into Friday’s news.

1. ‘These are the kinds of wins we expect to happen’

Loyola Chicago’s been to a Final Four and a Sweet 16 in the last 7 years. It’s got a national title.

Beating No. 21 Dayton in a superb Friday night game? That’s the minimum coach Drew Valentine expects to see.

“I'm not trying to undersell what happened today. And I'm also not trying to undersell the improvement our team has made. But our program has been a national program since I've been here,” Valentine said. “These are the kind of wins we expect to happen.”

Expectations are one thing. Delivering on those is another. The Ramblers’ 77-72 victory was a showcase of resolve, something they didn’t display last season when they finished last in their initial A-10 season.

Down by three at halftime, they traded leads with Dayton (22-6, 12-4) twice before grabbing a seven point lead with just under six minutes left. The defense swarmed likely A-10 POY DaRon Holmes whenever he got the ball (he still finished with 20 points), and forced 22 Dayton turnovers (that Flyers point guard Javon Bennett seemed to injure his hand didn’t help). And whenever Dayton tried to make a run, Loyola responded with a big play, whether it Braden Norris hitting a big 3-pointer of Miles Rubin getting one of his four blocks.

When Norris drilled a 3 that gave Loyola a 5-point lead with 18 seconds left, that electrified the home crowd and essentially sealed the win. If Richmond loses to rival VCU today, Loyola will be tied atop the A-10.

“Honestly, you kind of just black out in a game like that where it’s that loud,” he said, via A-10 Talk. “I didn’t know if [the shot] was gonna be short, long, go in, I couldn’t even feel it come off of my hands.”

“Defensively, we knew they would be disruptive,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “They've got really good players, very well-coached team, and it was a great environment today. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with a win.”

Dayton is solidly in the NCAA Tournament thanks to its overall record and non-conference performance. But it’s 0-4 on the road against the league’s top teams, and has lost four of its last five road games. The A-10 tournament feels wide open, which is a good thing for a league hoping for multiple NCAA tourney bids.

Could one of them be Loyola (21-8, 13-3)? Given how the Ramblers have played since mid-December (15-3, and as a Top 60 program), they’d have to be among the favorites. And if this lady starts getting screen time again, you know things are going well.

2. DePaul’s got its short list of coaches

DePaul athletic director DeWayne Peevy got ahead of the coaching carousel when he fired Tony Stubblefield in late January, after the Blue Demons were 3-15 and had lost all seven Big East contests.

Peevy has done his due diligence, with the help of search firm Glenn Suyiyama of DHR Global, and has focused on a handful of candidates, sources told The Field of 68.

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