Winning has never been so sweet

Virginia Commonwealth University’s goal at the start of the 2010-2011 basketball season was to make it to the Sweet 16; mission accomplished. Chicago’s United Center was packed with Purdue fans as the VCU Rams destroyed the Purdue Boilermakers 94-76. After winning three games in five days, the Rams became the first team to do so in one week of the NCAA tournament.

March 21, 2011; 3:00 PM • by Aaron Williams

Virginia Commonwealth University’s goal at the start of the 2010-2011 basketball season was to make it to the Sweet 16; mission accomplished. Chicago’s United Center was packed with Purdue fans as the VCU Rams destroyed the Purdue Boilermakers 94-76. After winning three games in five days, the Rams became the first team to do so in one week of the NCAA tournament.

Sunday March 20, 2011 was a night of records as VCU’s offense, led by Joey “The General” Rodriguez, looked unstoppable. Rodriguez had a VCU tournament record 11 assists with zero turnovers and after 5 assists he passed Rolando Lamb into third all-time for VCU.

The game remained tight until VCU took the lead with 5:54 remaining in the first half. VCU then put together a 13-0 run with every basket coming off of a defensive rebound. Rodriguez said he was overcome with confidence right before the run, as VCU started forcing their style onto Purdue. Rodriguez then masterfully pushed the tempo of the game into the rapid VCU comfort zone. They never looked back.

VCU also set VCU-NCAA tournament records for number of wins, field goals, points scored in a game and assists. Six players were in double digits and VCU proved they can win without incredible 3-point shooting.

Richmond native, junior Bradford Burgess, led VCU with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Despite only being 6’-6” he has led the Rams in rebounding in every contest of the tournament.

Freshmen big men Juvonte Reddic and D.J. Haley showed unusual poise. Both, matched up against future NBA first round pick JaJuan Johnson, proved their value on both ends of the court. 6’-10” Reddic scored 12 points on 6-8 shooting while showing off his mid range jumper. No player in college basketball shows more effort than seven-footer D.J. Haley. His six points in nine minutes combined with Reddic’s earned them 18 points in 19 minutes.

The next step

VCU travels to San Antonio, Texas to face Florida State. The Seminoles have a lot in common with VCU. They are known for their rugged defense and physical defense. The Seminoles split time between zone and man defense, but VCU, an all man defense team a few weeks ago is starting to show more and more zone defense.

Star Chris Singleton returned to the Seminoles on Friday after missing a month of basketball with a broken right foot. He is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder and his presence certainly helped FSU beat Texas A&M and clobber number 2 seed Notre Dame.

The Southwest region has four teams remaining: 1-seed Kansas, 10-seed Florida State, 11-seed VCU and 12-seed Richmond. VCU is the only team in the tournament with three wins as they were part of the inaugural “first-four”.

Coach Matt Painter said after Purdue’s loss, ”VCU can beat anyone in the country.” Tune in on Friday at 9:57pm to watch the Rams take on the Seminoles of Florida State because win or lose, VCU always puts on a show.

Five stats that will keep you talking

• 94 points is the most points scored on the defensively sound Boilermakers all season.
• Despite Purdue having All-American center JaJuan Johnson, VCU outscored Purdue 48-34 in the paint.
• VCU has outscored its last three opponents, University of Southern California, Georgetown and Purdue by a total of 49 points.
• Only #1 Ohio State University, and #1 North Carolina have scored more points a tournament game this year than VCU.
• After winning the College Basketball Invitational last season, VCU is now 8-0 in the post season the past two years.

March 21, 2011 3:00 PM 2