Man, a home loss to a Quad 4 team, that would have been disaster for VCU, which trailed Loyola Chicago – NET: 319 – by 15 midway through the first half.
It was 24-9 ten minutes in; the Rams went on to win by a final score that you would have expected going into this one, 89-75.
In fact, from nine points in the opening 10 minutes, VCU (16-6, 8-2 A-10, NET: 52) fought back to tie the game at 46-46 by the halftime break, making 11 of their next 14 shots from the field – going 6-of-9 from three during that stretch.
The D was the key in the second half: Loyola Chicago (5-18, 1-9 A-10, NET: 319) shot 11-of-29 from the floor with seven turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
Terrence Hill Jr. scored a career-high 24 points (6-of-12 FG, 5-of-9 3FG, 7-of-7 FT) off the bench for the Rams.
NCAA Tournament resume
Quad 1: 0-5
Quad 2: 4-1
Quad3/4: 12-0
Key
Quad 1: Home (1-30), Neutral (1-50), Away (1-75)
Quad 2: Home (31-75), Neutral (51-100), Away (76-135)
Metrics
- KPI: 45
- ELO: 48
- KenPom: 48
- RPI: 49
- BPI: 50
- NET: 52
- SOR: 59
- BartTorvik: 70
Average: 51.4
NCAA Tournament seed projection: close …
Key remaining games
- Quad 2: @Richmond (13-9, 3-6 A-10, NET: 124), Feb. 14
- Quad 2: George Washington (13-8, 4-4 A-10, NET: 70), Feb. 17
- Quad 1: @Saint Louis (21-1, 9-0 A-10, NET: 18), Feb. 20
- Quad 2: George Mason (19-2, 7-1 A-10, NET: 67), March 3
- Quad 2: @Dayton (14-8, 5-4 A-10, NET: 92), March 6
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Chris Graham
