The VCU Rams of the Colonial Athletic Association are moving on in the the 2011 NCAA Tournament. A team that most pundits dismissed as white noise in the bracket "upset" the Trojans of Southern California, 59-46, and will face the No. 6 seed Georgetown Hoyas Friday at 9:50pm.
Shaka Smart's Rams dominated the second half after a slow and sloppy first half of play. Jamie Skeen (16 points, nine rebounds), Bradford Burgess (nine points, 10 rebounds) and Joey Rodriguez (eight points, five assists) led VCU in a balanced attack that saw a 22-22 halftime lead slowly extend to an insurmountable edge for the Rams.
Despite 11 points and 14 rebounds from Nikola Vucevic the Trojans were unable to muster any momentum in the second half. As Len Elmore and Gus Johnson noted during the broadcast, the VCU zone seemed to baffle the Trojans and Kevin O'Neill's team made little adjustments in the second half of play.
VCU has a tough road ahead facing the Hoyas, but their balanced offensive and defensive attacks today proved they are up to any task come tournament time. It's why all the ranting and raving of Sunday evening means nothing tonight.