VCU led #18 Saint Louis by 10 points early in the second half, by eight with 12 and change to go, and no one could have foreseen what ended up happening.
Not only did the Rams lose by double-digits, they finished the game with four players, after a late-game fracas led to multiple ejections on both sides.
“It’s two tough teams, two very competitive teams, two physical teams,” VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. said. “Stuff like that, you wish it didn’t happen, but, yeah, it’s an intense game. It’s an emotional game.”
OK, so, what happened: Saint Louis guard Quentin Jones was dribbling the clock out, and VCU’s Nyk Jones broke protocol, stealing the ball to attempt a halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
Robbie Avila, the bespectacled one – great nicknames for the Great White Hope: Cream Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Nerd, Steph Blurry, Milk Chamberlain – shoved Jones out of bounds with 1.1 seconds left.
The benches cleared, which is why so many guys ended up getting tossed.
“It was a real competitive game. Obviously, emotions run high throughout the game. It got the best of us,” Avila said. “It was a real close game. We’ve battled the last two games. There is no ill intentions between anybody. Just the emotions of the game. The competition. That’s all that was.”
VCU (21-7, 12-3 A-10, NET: 45) led 57-49 with 12:29 to go on a pair of free throws from Barry Evans.
Saint Louis (25-2, 13-1 A-10, NET: 23) seized things from there with a 21-2 run over the next 5:06, making 10 of 11 shots over a stretch going back to the 14-minute mark, to go up 11.
VCU briefly got the margin to seven, but that was as close as it would get the rest of the way.
Resume: VCU
Quad 1: 0-5
Quad 2: 5-2
Quad3/4: 16-0
Topline
- RPI: 34
- ELO: 39
- NET: 45
Resume
- KPI: 35
- WAB: 47
- SOR: 48
Predictive
- KenPom: 44
- BPI: 45
- BartTorvik: 50
Average: 43.0
NCAA Tournament seed projection: Last Four In
Key remaining games
- Quad 2: @Dayton (17-9, 8-5 A-10, NET: 86), March 6
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Chris Graham
