Instant recap: VCU pummels Akron
5th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University handed 12th-seeded Akron a record setting 88-42 beat down Thursday night in the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Recap
5th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University handed 12th-seeded Akron a record setting 88-42 beat down Thursday night in the Palace of Auburn Hills.
VCU went inside early with Treveon Graham and Juvonte Reddic setting up Troy Daniels to catch fire from the perimeter. Their pressure wore down the much bigger Zips. Akron coach Keith Dambrot commented after the game, “We used too much energy getting the ball up the court that we couldn’t guard them.”
It was the Rams’ high-octane 2011 offense meet their high-pressure, stingy 2012 defense, and the results were impressive.
Already without point guard Alex Abreu, Akron was forced to deal with more adversity at the last moment. Brian Walsh and his roommate Pat Forsythe were fighting a serious flu that included an overnight trip to the emergency room, and Deji Ibitayo was unable to play due to back problems.
Top performer: Troy Daniels
23 points, 5 rebounds, 8-13 shooting, 6-11 3-point shooting
After finishing scoreless in 17 minutes of action against Saint Louis in the Atlantic 10 tournament finals, Troy Daniels was back with a vengeance on Thursday. He struck early and often from 3-point range and he even hit an uncharacteristic two 2-pointers.
5 stats
- Thursday’s 46 point margin is the largest ever by a 5-seed over a 12-seed.
- Junior Juvonte Reddic scored 16 points in the first half making him the 32nd Ram to score 1,000 points.
- In the first 30 minutes, VCU turned over the ball once while forcing Akron to turn over the ball 16 times.
- Troy Daniels never hit more than five 3-pointers in a game in his first three seasons. This season he has games with 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11 3-pointers.
- VCU was the only 5-seed to win on Thursday. #12 Oregon beat #5 Oklahoma St. and #12 California beat #5 UNLV.
Looking forward
#5 VCU will face #4 Michigan at 12:15pm on Saturday. The Wolverines lead the nation in offensive turnover percentage at 14.3% and VCU leads the nation in defensive turnover percentage at 28.7%. Can HAVOC! slow down Trey Burke, the nation’s best point guard?
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Aaron Williams
Aaron Williams loves music, basketball (follow @rvaramnews!), family, learning, and barbecue sauce.
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