CHICAGO _ Marques Townes walked around the edges of the Gentile Arena court, high-fiving fans as team tradition dictates. A fan stopped him and said, "Here, I want you to wear this," as she put a maroon-and-gold-striped scarf around his neck.
Townes made his way to center court with his teammates to celebrate Loyola's second straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and stepped to the microphone to address the crowd. The senior guard dabbed his eyes with the scarf, soaking in his final game on campus.
"We're not done yet," he said.
Townes _ who was named the conference's player of the year Tuesday _ has been playing like someone trying to make the most of his remaining time. He has been a beacon of consistency in an inconsistent season for the Ramblers, who begin their postseason encore to last year's Final Four run with the Valley tournament this week in St. Louis.
The top-seeded Ramblers (19-12, 12-6) must also repeat as conference tournament champions to earn a second straight NCAA Tournament invitation. That quest begins Friday against either No. 8 seed Indiana State or No. 9 Valparaiso.
After being part of a balanced offense on the Final Four team _ five players averaged between 10.5 and 13.2 points _ Townes has carried the bulk of the scoring load in many games this season. He's averaging 15.9 points, five rebounds and 3.5 assists and has exploded in conference play with 18.1 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting, including 41.8 percent on 3-pointers.
Townes was left off the all-conference teams a year ago, when he averaged 11.1 points, four rebounds and 2.4 assists _ and most memorably hit a dagger 3-pointer in the Sweet 16 against Nevada.
