Virginia Commonwealth junior guard Joey Rodriguez continued to make his case for being named the College Basketball Invitational Most Valuable Player, scoring 22 points and dishing out 6 dimes to lead the Virginia Commonwealth Rams (26-9) to an emphatic 68-56 victory over St. Louis (23-12) in the first game of the best-of-three CBI championship series.  Rodriguez dropped 14 points on the Billikens during an exhilarating two-minute second-half blitzkrieg during which he personally outscored St. Louis, 14-6, staking the Rams to a 55-40 lead they never relinquished.  Rodriguez’s run began with a layup at the 14:15 mark and concluded with a four-point play no more than two minutes later.

It was cruise control the rest of the way for coach Shaka Smart’s squad, as the Rams extended the lead to 64-44 on a Darius Theus layup with 7:46 remaining, and kept the Billikens at a Plastic Man-like arm’s length the remainder of the game.  Junior big Larry Sanders was the inside yang to Rodriguez’s perimeter yin for VCU. Sanders stuffed the box score with 4 blocked shots, 9 boards, 3 pilfers, and 20 points.  Willie Reed, who banged with Sanders all game, led the Billikens with 11 hard-earned points.

The Big Picture: VCU is not known as a team that wins games with defense.  Indeed, the recipe for the Rams in their run to the CBI championship series has mostly consisted of an offense so deep and so efficient that it simply overwhelmed opponents’ defenses.  While the Rams made plenty of shots Monday night, as Shaka Smart said after the game, “(We) won this game on the defensive end.”  With Sanders anchoring the Rams’ interior defense, and Rodriguez keeping SLU’s Kwamain Mitchell from penetrating, the Billikens were often forced to chuck up threes.  That just isn’t Billiken basketball.

Employing a trapping, full court press that was more disruptive than a Texas tornado, VCU continually forced either St. Louis turnovers or rushed shots.  The Rams converted 15 Billikens turnovers into 25 points, many of which were uncontested layups, helping to account for the Rams’ 40-28 points-in-the-paint advantage.

The Good: The tendency might be to focus on individual superlatives, but VCU’s spurtability (as CBS analyst Clark Kellogg would say) stems directly from its depth and teamwork.  VCU closed the first half with a 12-4 spurt; the Rams dropped dimes on four of the six buckets scored during that run.  As Smart noted in his postgame remarks, “(We) shared the ball and made the extra pass.”  Too often this postseason, teams have hoisted the first open three rather than making one more pass that just might lead to a better shot.  That the Rams didn’t do so on Monday night has as much to do with their win as anything else.

The Bad: We can’t really recall the last time we saw a Rick Majerus-coached team have such a complete and total second-half meltdown.  The Billikens began the second half with a 9-2 run, which got them back in the game, and that’s precisely when the roof caved in.  St. Louis came unglued over the next 11 minutes, struggling to so much as inbound the ball, or run a cohesive offensive set in the face of VCU’s energetic and withering defense.  Unsurprisingly, the Billikens found themselves trailing 66-46 with 7:46 remaining, and the game was reduced to an extended period of garbage time.

The Ugly: At the risk of being accused of sounding like a broken record, St. Louis, like an endless slew of teams this postseason, just took too many bad three-pointers in Richmond, Va.  The Billikens finished the game 5-of-20 from downtown, which included a brutal 2-of-10 second half.  During the Rams’ decisive second-half run, the Billikens missed five three-pointers.  They actually made four two-point field goals during that stretch, so if they had worked the rock a bit more, who knows, maybe this wouldn’t have become a rout.

What’s Next?

VCU held serve at home, which the Rams had to do since the next two games (if necessary) are to be played at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, where the Billikens are 18-3 this season.  Winning at Chaifetz Arena is no easy feat, but the simple fact remains: Virginia Commonwealth is the deeper, more experienced, more talented team.   Tonight’s game was, for the most part, played at St. Louis’s preferred half-court-oriented pace, and VCU still won.  Our forecast is for an even slower game on Wednesday night, and even more postseason heroics from VCU’s Joey Rodriguez and Larry Sanders.

By: Tim Coyne
DFN Sports Guest Writer

Trailing 43-42 to the Boston University Terriers (21-14) at the half, the Virginia Commonwealth Rams (25-9) opened the second half with a 9-zip spurt to take a 51-43 lead.  The Terriers responded by scoring four of the next five points to make it a 52-47 game at the 14:24 mark of the second half, and that’s when all heck broke loose for the Terriers.  VCU’s Brandon Rozzell and Joey Rodriguez nailed triples and Larry Sanders sailed in for a layup to finish the Rams’ 8-0 run, staking them to a 58-47 lead they never relinquished.  The closest Pat Chambers’ BU crew would get the rest of the way was 63-55 with 10:48 remaining.  VCU’s timely shooting and composed play for the remainder of the second half ensured that there would be no Boston University comeback.

As befits what is perhaps the deepest team in the College Basketball Invitational field, the Rams’ balanced attack proved to be too much for another opponent.  Four VCU players, paced by sophomore wing Bradford Burgess’s 20 points, scored in double figures, while junior Ed Nixon chipped in eight points.  Sophomore forward Jake O’Brien, who is showing all the signs of being a star in the America East Conference, led the Terriers with 20 points.

The Big Picture: Watching Virginia Commonwealth play in the CBI, one can’t help but think that this team could have caused some major trouble in that unnamed and somewhat more prominent postseason tournament.  While VCU may prefer to outscore teams instead of locking them down on the business end of the court, the Rams have the defensive chops to amp up the D when they need to.  Wednesday’s semifinal scrap with a good-shooting Boston University squad was one of those games where VCU needed to get it down on defense, and they did.  The Terriers took a first-half lead thanks to superb 7-of-14 shooting performance beyond the arc, and 49 % overall from the field.

Call it a tall of two halves, as VCU put the defensive clamps on Boston U.  Gone were the uncontested looks from long range.  The Rams’ full-court press scrambled the Terriers’ offensive flow, forcing a slew of forced and rushed shots.  The end result was Boston University shooting only 40 % from the field, including a bricktastic 1-of-6 beyond the arc, in the decisive second half.  Actually, the end result featured VCU outscoring Boston University 46-32 in the second half to win this CBI semifinal going away.

The Good: Larry Sanders may get all the love from NBA scouts, but his perimeter teammate, Joey Rodriguez, is the cog that makes the Rams go.  Not only did Rodriguez spearhead the Rams’ full-court press that changed the dynamics and inertia of the game in the second half, but he also quarterbacked a second-half offense that was almost as pefect as Alicia Keys’ hook in “Empire State of Mind.”  Rodriguez played 18 minutes in the second half, scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, and most impressively, dishing out three dimes without a single turnover.  If March is the province of guards, then VCU is in very good hands with Rodriguez at the helm.

The Bad: Let’s call it weary leg syndrome.  Even though VCU played much better defense in the second half, Boston University just looked like a tired team.  Being that the Terriers played an OT game on Monday evening and then had to hit the road to travel to VCU for Wednesday night’s 7 p.m. (ET) tip-off, who could blame them for losing their legs in the second half?  Put simply, Pat Chambers’ squad is not a team that goes 1-of-6 beyond the arc in a half, well, just about ever.  The Gazelle Group – the organizers of the CBI tournament – may need to address this tight schedule, with travel, going forward.

The Ugly: Not to single out one player, but VCU’s Brandon Rozzell, perhaps feeling his oats after Monday evening’s surprise stat, was heat-checking all the game.  Unfortunately for Rozzell, the heat had been shut off after his 20-point outing Monday night since he scored only 5 points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field.  In a slower-paced, more taut CBI finals series versus St. Louis, VCU may not be able to overcome Rozzell firing away without conscience.

What’s Next?

Let’s get our CBI best-of-3 finals series on, folks!  VCU will be squaring off with the St. Louis Billikens (23-11), 69-59 victors over Princeton in the other CBI semifinal.  The opening game of the series will be played at VCU on Monday night, with St. Louis playing host to, at the very least, game two on Wednesday evening (if necessary, game three will be played in St. Louis on Friday night).  Shaka Smart’s squad is clearly the more talented of the two teams, but the Billikens are very tough to beat at the Chaifetz Arena, going 18-3 at home this season.

By: Tim Coyne
DFN Sports Guest Writer

In a game played at a speed Usain Bolt would have found comfortable, the Virginia Commonwealth Rams broke open a 25-22 game with a 20-9 run to close the first half, and staved off several second half charges by the College of Charleston to survive and advance with a 93-86 win.  Rams’ junior point guard Joey Rodriguez was a blur all game, breaking down the Cougars’ defense almost at will, as VCU (24-9) repeatedly got open looks in the lane.  Rodriguez finished with 19 points and 9 dimes, several of which came on dishes to VCU bigs Jamie Skeen (18 points) and Larry Sanders (14 points).  Tony White Jr. paced Charleston (22-12) with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

The Big Picture: VCU coach Shaka Smart adjusted his lineup to begin this game, benching usual starters Sanders, Rodriguez, and Ed Nixon and starting Brandon Rozzell, Kirill Pishchalnikov, and Darius Theus instead.  Supposedly the change wasn’t a matter of discipline, but was to “shake things up.”  The 33rd game of the season may seem like an unusual time to “shake things up,” particularly when said game is a win-or-go-home postseason scrap, but give Mr. Smart his due – the strategy worked.  Rozzell responded with one of his best games of the season, scoring 20 points, while Sanders and Rodriguez made the most of the lost time once they got on the court.  Along with scoring 14 points, Sanders also snared 14 boards and swatted 4 shots, leading a VCU attack that outscored Charleston 58-26 in the paint.

The Good: Let’s begin by giving some props to Charleston’s 6-8 junior forward Jeremy Simmons.  Even though his team didn’t win, had himself a dunkfest, throwing down six slams.  He and teammate Tony White Jr. were more in synch than Lance Bass and Joey Fatone, converting three alley-oops.  For the game, 12 of Simmons’ 18 points came on throwdowns.

As much fun as Simmons’ moments were, the response by VCU when challenged in the second half was the stuff of postseason tournament championships.  With the score 50-49 in the second half, Charleston had several chances to take the lead.  Tony White Jr. and Andrew Goudelock both misfired  on threes, and VCU responded by going on a 16-4 run, taking a 66-53 lead.  The Rams’ lead was 85-74 with 1:07 remaining when the Cougars went on one final three-point frenzy, making four triples in the final minute of the game.  VCU’s Troy Daniels made a three of his own during that time span to help the Rams fend off the Cougars in the crazy final minute.

> Follow the entire 2010 CBI Tournament on line through Colonial Fans!

The Bad: Neither team earned its stripes on the defensive end of the court this season, but the amount of open looks both teams gave up tonight would make even a participant in the NBA All-Star Game blush.  One could have counted the amount of contested jumpers on one hand and still had plenty of fingers left to guzzle a beer or house a hot dog.  VCU torched the nets, shooting nearly 51 % from the field for the game, while the College of Charleston shot 43.4 % from the field and sank 54 % of its shots in the second half.  VCU also shot 54 % in the second half, which helps to explain why VCU is moving on.

The Ugly: Our least favorite fad of this postseason – endless bombing away beyond the arc – was in full effect tonight, as the Cougars took 33 triples, making only 13 of them.  Consider that four of those makes came in the final 1:07 and it becomes clear that Charleston might have been better served getting more shots going at the rim (and feeding Simmons for more slams).  Trailing 50-49, Charleston took four threes in a row, missing all of them.  Bobby Cremins’ squad never got within one point of the Rams the rest of the game.

What’s Next?

It will be a very quick turnaround for Shaka Smart’s squad, as it will host Boston University in CBI semifinal number one Wednesday night.  The Rams are clear favorites to win that game, and they have to be considered the favorites to win the College Basketball Invitational championship series at this point as well.

By: Time Coyne
DFN Sports Guest Writer

It was ferocious. It was spirited. It was exciting. It was consequential. It was pulse-pounding, passionate, and perilous to one’s cardiovascular health if you had a stake in the outcome.

But boy, the second semifinal of the 2010 Colonial Athletic Association Tournament was also one ugly basketball game.

In a fiercely-contested competition that was both riveting and revolting, the Tribe of William & Mary were the last ones standing inside Richmond Coliseum. The third seed from Williamsburg, Va., outlasted the second-seeded Northeastern Huskies on Sunday evening and created an in-state CAA final. William & Mary advances to play Norfolk-based Old Dominion in Monday night’s all-Virginia championship game.

This collision between two evenly-matched foes was not for the faint of heart; the statement applied to Sunday’s slugfest on multiple levels. In one sense, the vigor of the competition was breathtakingly admirable; yet, the ugliness of each team’s shooting performance also tested the ticker in a less positive sense.

How improbable was this Bill-and-Mary breakthrough? Just consider all the improbable occurrences that littered this wild but low-scoring white-knuckler:

The Tribe, coached by Tony Shaver, scored only 16 points in the second half. William & Mary scored six of those 16 points in the final 1:30 of regulation, meaning that the No. 3 seed in this tournament posted just 10 points in the first 18 and a half minutes after halftime.

William & Mary hit just 37 percent of its shots, committed more turnovers (10) than the number of foul shots it converted (six), and needed almost seven minutes just to hit its first field goal in the second half.

Yet, despite all of that, the Tribe never trailed by more than one point in the second half… and that’s because W&M smothered Northeastern in the first half, limiting the boys from Boston to just 17 points. Coach Bill Coen’s Huskies produced a better CAA regular season than Shaver’s squad did, but in the one-and-done pressure of a conference tournament, Northeastern’s fortunes went south.

With just under 40 seconds remaining, the Huskies led, 45-44, and stood a few defensive stops from pulling off a remarkable comeback from a 31-17 halftime deficit. Yet, precisely when the Tribe were just about to throw away their dominating first-half performance, David Schneider made a very timely, even theatrical, appearance in this passion play.

Schneider – a 16-point-per-game scoring stud who had missed all eight of his previous field goal attempts – hit the one and only shot that mattered in this suspenseful Sunday that carried even more drama than the Academy Awards. Schneider’s lone make of the day on a 3-point bomb gave William & Mary a 47-45 edge with 37 ticks left on the clock.

Yet, for all the twists and turns in this tussle, the most remarkable sequence of this head-spinner was still to come.

Northeastern – trailing by two – preceded to snare six offensive rebounds in the final 21 seconds. Yet, the Huskies could never find the bottom of the net. Coen’s kids subsequently missed not one or two chances to tie or win the game, but three… then four… then five… six… and ultimately seven chances to send this game into overtime (on six 2-point tries) or win it outright (on a 3-point attempt by swingman Matt Janning with 13 seconds left). When NU’s Nkem Ojougboh missed twice within three feet of the rim in the final two seconds of play, the Tribal survival act became a reality.

Don’t ask Tony Shaver or the rest of his coaching staff how they lived one more day on their way to the CAA final. They have to rest up for the game that will decide their NCAA Tournament destiny.

> Find CAA team apparel & merchandise including Northeastern Huskies hats through DFN Sports sites!

What’s Next

William & Mary now prepares to face Old Dominion in Monday’s CAA final at 7 p.m. Eastern at the Richmond Coliseum. During the regular season, the Monarchs swept the Tribe. ODU won on the road in Williamsburg on Jan. 23 by a 58-55 count, and when the teams reunited in Norfolk on Feb. 3, the Monarchs mashed Bill & Mary by a 61-42 score. The Tribe isn’t as athletic or as consistent as coach Blaine Taylor’s team is; Shaver needs to find a way to become less reliant on the long ball and create inside-outside action that will put ODU on a defensive pendulum. If William & Mary can establish some offensive balance and unpredictability, this championship showdown could become quite a compelling watch for a national cable television audience.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

The Old Dominion Monarchs held the fate of their own season in their hands on Sunday afternoon in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, but they also held the fate of Bubble Nation in their mitts as well. Therefore, when a backyard battle against Virginia Commonwealth took a negative turn at Richmond Coliseum, the regular season champion of the CAA had to be sweating bullets.

Somehow, Old Dominion managed to dodge those bullets as well.

In a game that possessed enormous bubble implications, the mentally tough Monarchs got off the deck and responded down the stretch. A team whose at-large NCAA hopes were going down the drain suddenly pulled itself out of a death spiral against a VCU crew that was intent on springing an upset before a boisterous hometown crowd. By not backing down when VCU had the crowd and in-game momentum on its side, ODU rallied for a four-point overtime victory that should ensure coach Blaine Taylor’s club of an NCAA invite. Even if the Monarchs lose Monday night’s championship game, their ability to get to the CAA final after winning the regular season should go a long way toward satisfying the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. A road win at Georgetown will also provide needed non-conference ballast to a team that has now solidified its resume to a considerable extent.

But enough of ODU’s tournament-worthy resume. Before getting to the point where it could feel good about its NCAA at-large chances, ODU had to first turn back coach Shaka Smart’s kids from Virginia Commonwealth, and after 30-plus minutes of action, the top seed in the Colonial didn’t look to be up to the challenge.

The two teams traded blows in a first half that didn’t create any appreciable degree of separation, but in the first 10 minutes and 32 seconds of the second half, the Rams started throwing – and landing – haymakers against the shellshocked Monarchs. VCU outscored ODU 26-12 in the first part of the second stanza, using a blended inside-outside game to accumulate dunks, layups and threes. The offensive explosion enabled the Rams to take a 55-44 lead with 9:28 remaining, and with the flow of the game cutting squarely against them – not to mention the energy of a pro-Ram crowd – the Monarchs felt an NCAA noose tightening around their neck. Teams from mid-major conferences generally need to make the final of their tournaments if they expect to get an at-large big to the Big Dance, and that’s for teams with slam-dunk resumes. Old Dominion lost in the BracketBusters event to Northern Iowa, so a semifinal loss might not have made the cut with the Selection Committee. It was fair to say that a late comeback needed to be produced if Selection Sunday was going to be enjoyable for the folks from Norfolk, Va.

Improbably but quite admirably, the Monarchs found the fortitude and the finishing kick they so desperately needed.

While Old Dominion battened down the hatches on defense, conceding only seven points to VCU in the final 9:28 of regulation, Gerald Lee delivered the offensive production his team required in a moment of urgency. Lee – who led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting – started ODU’s comeback by nailing a few jumpers that trimmed the aforementioned 55-44 deficit to just 55-48. Lee later completed the comeback by sticking a jumper at the 1:55 mark to tie the game at 62 and send the proceedings into extra time.

The Monarchs felt as though they had gained a reprieve. In overtime, they played like it.

Ben Finney scored only 11 points for ODU, but he delivered five of them in overtime – two on a basket that tied the game at 66, and three on a long ball that gave the Monarchs a 71-66 edge with 1:08 to go. VCU closed within two and had a chance to tie, but an Ed Nixon tip-in missed with five seconds left, and when Lee grabbed the rebound and then made two foul shots, it was all over… for Virginia Commonwealth.

Old Dominion had lived to fight another day.

> Find CAA team apparel & merchandise including Old Dominion hats and VCU hats & merchandise through DFN Sports sites!

What’s Next

The Monarchs might not be an absolute lock for the 2010 NCAA Tournament, but they’re in extremely good shape because of the poor quality of the bubble. With that said, ODU can remove all doubt by winning the CAA Tournament and booking its plane reservations for a first-round NCAA site. Blaine Taylor and the rest of his staff will need to keep their players attentive on defense; the lapses at the start of the second half against Virginia Commonwealth were far too frequent and alarming. A strong defensive performance should be good enough to get this team into the winner’s circle on Monday night, in the final CAA game of the 2009-2010 season.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

(1) Old Dominion 60, (3) William & Mary 53

Now, the Old Dominion Monarchs won’t have to worry about the bubble.

The regular-season champion of the Colonial Athletic Association created a drama-free Selection Sunday on a magic Monday in Richmond, Va. Coach Blaine Taylor’s team used superb footwork and timely rotations in a dominating defensive display that turned back William & Mary in the CAA Tournament final. The seven-point triumph carries the school from Norfolk, Va., into the NCAA Tournament. The only suspense attached to the selection announcement for the ODU crew concerns the combination of site, seeding and opponent.

This game was defined by defense on both sides of the divide, and that notion shouldn’t strike anyone as a surprise. William & Mary, a gallant third-seeded foe who pushed Old Dominion throughout this contest, won its semifinal at this tournament by outlasting Northeastern, 47-45, in a very rugged and ragged affair. A lot of elbow grease was going to be used in this championship showcase, but what also needs to be said is that conference tournaments are generally low scoring because the opposing teams know each other’s offensive sets. A full season of on-court combat combined with the accumulated experiences of coaching staffs creates a feel of familiarity whenever conference rivals play each other in a tournament setting. As is usually the case in a conference tournament, William & Mary and Old Dominion met for the third time in 2010, so the Tribe and Monarchs were anything but mysterious to each other. It only stood to reason that buckets would be hard to come by.

What might have surprised even the most careful observers of the CAA, however, was the fact that so few players rose above the moment in a contest that felt like a 15-round prizefight.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s true: Of the 19 players who took part in this game, 17 took at least one shot from the field. Of those 17 shooters, only one hit more than three shots (William & Mary’s Danny Sumner, who went 7 of 14 en route to a 19-point performance). All five ODU starters hit exactly three shots, and nothing more. The pervasive inability of players to put the ball in the basket, even at the foul line (the two teams were a combined 21 of 35, or 60 percent on the button), spoke not just to the pressure of this one-and-done event, but to the fact that points were precious. The defense thrown down by both teams was that active and consistent.

The difference, then, was that Old Dominion had just a little more defense to offer.

The Monarchs knew that William & Mary’s sniper, David Schneider, is never hesitant about putting the ball in the air. Schneider entered this game having attempted at least 10 3-pointers in 10 separate games. ODU’s scouting report had to focus on Schneider, and the results bore out the preparation turned in by Taylor and the rest of the Monarchs’ braintrust. Schneider went just 2 of 12 beyond the arc, as Old Dominion’s alert and rangy defenders challenged shots and extended themselves on the perimeter.

> Find CAA team apparel & merchandise including Old Dominion hats & merchandise through DFN Sports sites!

Against a non-conference opponent, William & Mary’s nuanced halfcourt offense – devised by coach Tony Shaver – would cause considerable confusion, but Old Dominion’s thorough understanding of the Tribe’s set plays and concepts enabled the Monarchs to read, react and rotate throughout the night in Richmond. The final results weren’t pretty for a William & Mary team that made only 9 of 31 threes and came away with too many empty possessions.

ODU never ran away with this event, but in the same breath, the Monarchs were never in especially grave danger of losing. Blaine Taylor’s team led by at least five points throughout the second half and was able to shut down the Tribe on the two occasions when William and Mary reached that five-point threshold.

It’s on to the NCAAs for Old Dominion, while William & Mary should definitely be able to snare an NIT bid. Each of these teams will be tough outs in a week, but Old Dominion will be playing in the event where everyone wants to be.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer