I don't think Shaka Smart and his Va. Commonwealth Rams would have it any other way. Bradford Burgess scored a basket with seven seconds left off another nicely designed inbounds play, and VCU defeated Florida State 72-71 to advance to the Elite Eight. The Kansas Jayhawks await Sunday, and VCU is now just one win away from an improbable (but completely deserved) 2011 Final Four berth.
Big Shot Brad Burgess (as Craig Sager just called him) not only scored the winning bucket but had 26 points on six of seven shooting from downtown. Joey Rodriguez, the man who found Burgess cutting to the basket on the game-winning play, finished with five points, 10 assists and three steals.
Florida State got a herculean effort from Derwin Kitchen - his 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists led the Seminoles in defeat. Chris Singleton added 16 points and eight rebounds, and the game tying shot that got the two teams to the extra period.
VCU now advances to face Kansas on Sunday. Shaka's Rams are quite obviously a team on a mission, and I'm pretty sure losing to Kansas isn't the end goal. Sunday's going to be fun.