Virginia Commonwealth University is in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Few writers, even in Richmond, Va, would have ever imagine stringing those words together in an Fantasy Bracket, much less real life.
The Rams have relied on tremendous defensive pressure and strong offensive outputs to push past Southern Cal, Georgetown, Purdue and Florida State in a row.
Now comes possibly the biggest behemoth yet, the fightin’ Kansas Jayhawks.
Kansas has steamrolled through the tournament thus far winning by an average of nearly 18 points per game. They rebound, the play strong defense and strong well from field. The Jayhawks are led by the Marcus Morris and his brother, Markieff Morris who have combined for 30 points and 16.3 rebounds per game in the NCAA Tournament. No way the Rams have a shot right?
VCU just continues to find a way to expose their opponent weakness and pound and pound. Led by frantic PG Joey Rodriguez, 3 point assassin Bradford Burgess and big man Jamie Skeen, the Rams refuse to back down on Friday night facing the best FG percentage defense in the country. The task will not be easier with Kansas who has offensive weapons from nearly every position. They can't hang with Rock Chalk can they?
The numbers are lopsided: Kansas averages nearly 10 points more per game, shoots a better percentage from the field and from 3 point range and grabs more rebounds. VCU shoots slightly better from the FT line and has a minor advantage in steals. If VCU can keep the game in the 70s, like they did on Friday night, anything can happen.
Anyone still doubting VCU? I’m not. You shouldn’t either.
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