Rams Advance to A-10 Semis Behind 30 by Bones
by Charlie Krausse March 5, 2021
@ckrausse02
@ckrausse02
Being out of action since February 20th with an ankle injury, Bones Hyland returned to the court with a blast. The newly crowned Atlantic 10 Player of the Year dropped 30 points in the Rams 73-68 victory over Dayton. VCU advanced to the Atlantic 10 semi-finals tomorrow night.
The Rams jumped out early and took a double-digit lead into the half. The score remained a distant lead most of the game. With that, the final 8 minutes of the game, Dayton continued to make shots, get rebounds and forced the Rams into bad situations, cutting the lead to single digits. The final few minutes became stressful for Rams fans though the Broad Street Bullies did enough to survive and advance.
“You saw every aspect of VCU basketball. And some of it isn’t pretty,” stated head coach Mike Rhodes. Rhodes earlier this week was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. “The end of the game, you know, that is our team. We got some defensive stops late and that helped win it for us. I am really proud of these guys.”
Bones not only led the team in scoring, but added a double-double to his resume as he grabbed 10 rebounds as well. A true, complete game. Hyland battled through twists, falls and cheap fouls throughout the game. Also returning and still not one hundred percent healthy was Vince Williams. Williams added 17 minutes but did not score.
Defensively, Havoc was sound throughout the quarterfinal match. The Rams forced 21 turnovers, with 12 of them being steals from 6 different players. Corey Douglas and Hassan Ward each added three blocks. The two added 18 points combined, as well.
Turnovers also plagued VCU’s offense. The Rams turned over the ball 15 times, allowing 14 points scored by Dayton on the turnovers.
The Rams advance to the Atlantic 10 semi-finals Saturday night. In the earlier half of the bracket, the 1-seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies sailed past Duquesne. While the 4-seeded St. Louis Billikins ran past the Minutemen of U Mass.
For Bracketologists, both of those teams might need a win to lock up an at-large bid. Even as a 1-seed in the conference, going into the game, the Bonnies had a NET Ranking of 29 with two Quad-1 victories. While St. Louis, a true bubble team, NET Ranking is 40 with two Quad-1 wins, as well.
VCU will play the winner of Davidson and George Mason. VCU entered the day with a NET Ranking of 35th with, again, two Quad-1 victories. Most foresee VCU lining up as a 10-seed.
The two semi-final victors will not meet for another eight days, Selection Sunday. This time, in Dayton. This scenario might bode well for both opponents, as the Selection Committee, subjectively speaking, does not weigh the final Sunday’s games as much as they do all others. A discussion that has been made by many coaches every season. Most recently by Bruce Pearl in 2019 when Auburn ended up in the Final Four. Before they got there though, the Tigers blew out Tennessee in the SEC Championship game by twenty-two points on Selection Sunday. Each had very similar resumes, total wins, losses, the whole nine yards and Auburn fell to a 5-seed, where Tennessee ended up as a 4-seed.
The Rams can pretty much lock up an at-large bid with a win Saturday night.
The Rams jumped out early and took a double-digit lead into the half. The score remained a distant lead most of the game. With that, the final 8 minutes of the game, Dayton continued to make shots, get rebounds and forced the Rams into bad situations, cutting the lead to single digits. The final few minutes became stressful for Rams fans though the Broad Street Bullies did enough to survive and advance.
“You saw every aspect of VCU basketball. And some of it isn’t pretty,” stated head coach Mike Rhodes. Rhodes earlier this week was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. “The end of the game, you know, that is our team. We got some defensive stops late and that helped win it for us. I am really proud of these guys.”
Bones not only led the team in scoring, but added a double-double to his resume as he grabbed 10 rebounds as well. A true, complete game. Hyland battled through twists, falls and cheap fouls throughout the game. Also returning and still not one hundred percent healthy was Vince Williams. Williams added 17 minutes but did not score.
Defensively, Havoc was sound throughout the quarterfinal match. The Rams forced 21 turnovers, with 12 of them being steals from 6 different players. Corey Douglas and Hassan Ward each added three blocks. The two added 18 points combined, as well.
Turnovers also plagued VCU’s offense. The Rams turned over the ball 15 times, allowing 14 points scored by Dayton on the turnovers.
The Rams advance to the Atlantic 10 semi-finals Saturday night. In the earlier half of the bracket, the 1-seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies sailed past Duquesne. While the 4-seeded St. Louis Billikins ran past the Minutemen of U Mass.
For Bracketologists, both of those teams might need a win to lock up an at-large bid. Even as a 1-seed in the conference, going into the game, the Bonnies had a NET Ranking of 29 with two Quad-1 victories. While St. Louis, a true bubble team, NET Ranking is 40 with two Quad-1 wins, as well.
VCU will play the winner of Davidson and George Mason. VCU entered the day with a NET Ranking of 35th with, again, two Quad-1 victories. Most foresee VCU lining up as a 10-seed.
The two semi-final victors will not meet for another eight days, Selection Sunday. This time, in Dayton. This scenario might bode well for both opponents, as the Selection Committee, subjectively speaking, does not weigh the final Sunday’s games as much as they do all others. A discussion that has been made by many coaches every season. Most recently by Bruce Pearl in 2019 when Auburn ended up in the Final Four. Before they got there though, the Tigers blew out Tennessee in the SEC Championship game by twenty-two points on Selection Sunday. Each had very similar resumes, total wins, losses, the whole nine yards and Auburn fell to a 5-seed, where Tennessee ended up as a 4-seed.
The Rams can pretty much lock up an at-large bid with a win Saturday night.