MICHIGAN, SHMICHIGAN; FINDING PERSPECTIVE AS VCU BASKETBALL FORGES AHEAD

Junior Juvonte Reddic led VCU with 16 points Saturday. He is one of three starters set to return in 2013-14.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Rob Brandenberg wasn’t ready to turn the page. It was too soon, the loss too recent, the pain still too raw. After VCU’s 78-53 loss to Michigan Saturday in the NCAA Third Round at The Palace of Auburn Hills, he wasn’t prepared to reflect on a season filled with a lifetime of highlights. Not yet.

“You know, later on in the future, but right now, I can’t do that,” he said.

It’s a cruel reality we face every season, one that VCU Coach Shaka Smart embraced in 2010 on the way to a CBI Championship, “very few teams get to end their season with a win”, he preached. Smart understood the value of that final win and how it can help frame the narrative of the season.

This season was like a freight train of success. There were a couple of hitches along the way, but for the most part, the Rams chugged along with a momentum and enthusiasm that has been captivating. At some point, we hitched a ride and celebrated the victories and the milestones and didn’t want to end. It felt more like a party bus. But the inevitability of a day like Saturday closed in. When a season comes to an end, it’s rarely a soft, comfortable glide into the station. It’s more like hitting the bumpers at the end of the track: sudden, jarring and painful.

Some people hold onto that feeling longer than others. Some let that one negative event color what has been five months of achievement. Don’t.

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VIDEO: VCU THROTTLES AKRON

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VCU-AKRON REACTION THROUGH TWITTER EYES

HAVOC. HAVOC. HAVOC. HAVOC. HAVOC.HAVOC

— Spike Lee (@SpikeLee) March 22, 2013

If VCU is trying to intimidate me it’s kind of working.

— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) March 22, 2013

VCU 72, Akron 34. Can we get LeBron James on the Akron roster for the rest of this game?

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 22, 2013

Death, taxes, and VCU making noise in March. #EveryYear

— ESPN UNITE (@UNITE) March 22, 2013

Just saw this on another feed: Akron-VCU score looks like a Celcius-to-Farenheit conversion.

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) March 22, 2013

HAVOC UNRAVELS AKRON, DEMANDS ENCORES

Juvonte Reddic wore out Akron inside Thursday night to the tune of 21 points in the Rams’ 88-42 rout.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – If VCU was trying to get Michigan’s attention Thursday – not just the team, but the entire state – it did a terrific job of shining a light on itself.

In a rout for the ages, fifth-seeded VCU hammered 12^th-seeded Akron 88-42 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 in one of the most lob-sided games you’ll see in March. It was the largest margin of victory in a 5/12 game NCAA Tournament history and was the most one-sided NCAA loss by a MAC team in conference history.

Afterwards, Akron Coach Keith Dambrot could do little but accept a reality colder than the Michigan winter: that the Zips had no answer for VCU.

“This is a big-boy game,” he said. “You’ve got to take your butt-whuppin’ sometimes.”

And it was. With VCU’s Havoc defense churning out turnovers, the Rams attacked Akron’s defense – ranked second in the MAC in points allowed and first in field goal defense – with ease. Despite a decided size advantage inside, including 7-foot center Zeke Marshall, Akron could not keep the Rams out of the paint or away from the rim. The Rams got 21 points from forward Juvonte Reddic in 23 minutes and scored 40 points in the paint in all.

“Zeke Marshall’s a great shot blocker, but the last thing you want to do when a team has size or shot-blocking ability is over-respect them,” said VCU Coach Shaka Smart. “You want to go at them. If they block shots, they block some shots. It’s not the end of the world. But you want to make sure you get in the paint. You put pressure on their defense.”

Last season, VCU slipped past Akron in a 76-75 overtime barnburner. Dambrot said he watched the tape of that close loss three times this week and came away convinced the Zips could compete with the Rams. But they could not.

VCU-AKRON RAPID REACTION: VCU 88, AKRON 42

Overview: VCU absolutely pummeled the 12th-seeded Zips Thursday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills, 88-42. Akron took a 6-4 lead in the first half, and then the Rams put Akron to sleep, staging a 17-3 run to grab a 21-9 lead with 13:16 left. VCU never looked back.

The Rams did as they wished on the offensive end all night. Despite Akron’s sizeable front line of Zeke Marshall and Demetrius Treadwell, VCU took the ball hard to the rim early and often. When they weren’t getting into the paint, the Rams were watching Troy Daniels bomb away from three. Daniels scored 23 points in just 21 minutes of play and hit 6-of-11 threes on the night.

Akron, playing without suspended starting point guard Alex Abreu and reserve guard Deja Ibitayo, were unable to defend VCU’s quicker, more athletic guards or protect the basketball.

Overall, the Rams put together a masterful shooting performance, knocking down 54 (35-of-65) of their attempts. VCU also forced 22 turnovers via its trademark Havoc full-court press and outscored Akron 34-7 off turnovers.

Senior Juvonte Reddic scored 21 points in 19 minutes and became the 32nd Ram to score 1,000 career points with a bucket midway through the first half. Rob Brandenberg added 14.

Turning point: Given the lobsided nature of this one, you could probably say tip-off, but with 18:28 remaining, Juvonte Reddic sparked the Rams with back-to-back buckets, including a right-handed slam. Moments later, Reddic, gliding up the floor in transition, threw down a two-handed coast-to-coast jam that made it 12-6. It was pretty much over at that point.

Player of the game: Daniels, who made Bill Raftery swoon with his series of 3-pointers that put the game out of reach.

Key stat: Akron turnovers (22) versus VCU turnovers (7). Hard to beat a team when you’re minus 15 in turnover margin.

Miscellaneous: The victory was the Rams’ largest margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament. The previous high of 18 came in VCU’s back-to-back drubbings of Georgetown and Purdue in the 2011 NCAA second and third rounds.

VCU won a tournament game for the third straight season under Coach Shaka Smart. That has happened once previously in school history (1983-85).

The Rams’ win was also the largest margin of defeat for a MAC school. The previous record was 32.

What’s next: Fourth-seeded Michigan, which will be playing in front of a pro-Wolverines crowd on Saturday. Michigan overcame a slow start to handle South Dakota State 71-56 Thursday behind 21 points apiece from Glenn Robinson III and Tim Hardaway Jr. The Wolverines have a stable of talented guards and have recorded the lowest offensive turnover percentage in the country this season. VCU leads the nation in defensive turnovers percentage. The winner heads to the Sweet 16 in Dallas next week.

FROM AUBURN HILLS…

#RamNation getting warmed up at pre-game pep rally! #PeppaEffect #LetsGoVCU twitter.com/jonpalumbo/sta…

— Jon Palumbo (@jonpalumbo) March 21, 2013

 

From the pep rally, via Greg Burton telly.com/9OB174 via @telly #LetsGoVCU

— Around The Horns (@VCUHorns) March 21, 2013

Stickered Logan #letsgovcu twitter.com/DeanHoffmeyer/…

— Dean Hoffmeyer (@DeanHoffmeyer) March 21, 2013

VIDEO: SIGHTS AND SOUNDS NCAA MEDIA DAY

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FIFTH-SEEDED RAMS AIM TO MAINTAIN UNDERDOG SPIRIT

Once a popular NCAA Tournament pick as an underdog, VCU will enter its Round of 64 game as a favorite.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – What happens to the hunted when it becomes the hunter? Does it lose its killer instinct, its razor’s edge, the sharpness of which has been the difference between survival and irrelevance? Does it watch too much reality TV instead of going to the gym?

When VCU takes the court in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Thursday against Akron at the Palace of Auburn Hills, it will do so in a world that has shifted its perspective of the Rams. VCU, once America’s Sweetheart, the loveable underdog, is a legitimate brand name. This year, the Rams (26-8) earned a No. 5 seed, the school’s highest in 28 years.

Some of the most memorable moments in VCU history have come with the Rams as a double-digit seed. When Eric Maynor and the Rams toppled Duke in Buffalo in 2007, they were seeded 11^th. VCU was also an 11-seed in 2011, when it stormed all the way through the Southwest Regional to the Final Four. Last year, as a 12-seed, VCU upset Wichita State in the Round of 64 in Portland, Ore.

VCU, especially under Shaka Smart, has adopted the underdog philosophy better than anyone. In 2011, half the anchors employed by ESPN, including Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale, dogged the NCAA committee’s selection of VCU. The Rams used it as bulletin board material on the way to five straight upset wins. So prominent was the chip on the Rams’ shoulder, that when VCU beat USC in the First Four in Dayton that year, Smart’s first words at his postgame press conference that night were: “You think Jay Bilas watched that game?”

MORE LOVE FOR VCU: RADIO PEOPLE, UM, ON VIDEO

Two observations: 1. Melissa Chase needs a Rowdy Rams tee, like, yesterday. 2. Dash’s mustache is top-shelf.

KEY MATCH-UP: ZEKE MARSHALL

Akron 7-foot center Zeke Marshall ranks fourth nationally in blocked shots per game (3.7).

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Although VCU Coach Shaka Smart and Akron Coach Keith Dambrot share many basketball philosophies and favor similar playing styles, both of their teams play to their strengths.

VCU is loaded with athletic, speedy guards to fit its “Havoc” system of full-court pressing and open-floor playmaking. By contrast, Akron is geared more toward its strong post players Zeke Marshall, Demetrius Treadwell and Nick Harney.

Marshall is a particularly fascinating match-up. The senior from McKeesport, Pa. is arguably unlike any player the Rams have seen this season. Standing 7-feet tall with a 7-5 wingspan, Marshall is a rejection machine. He’s like government red tape in gym shorts.

Although still raw on the offensive end in many ways, Marshall has made continued progress over his career and is decidedly more effective than in the Rams’ previous meetings with the Zips in 2009 and last season. This year, Marshall has used an effective right-handed hook shot and short jumpers with stunning efficiency. In 32 games, he’s shooting 65 percent from the field, and he leads the Zips in scoring (13.1 ppg).

As valuable as Marshall has been on offense this year, it’s his shot-blocking ability that makes him special. Marshall is blocking 3.7 shots per game in about 28 minutes a night, a number which translates to about five per 40 minutes. Just the threat of Marshall in the paint is enough to alter game plans. VCU drivers will have to account for him. He’ll also own a decided height advantage over his most likely post match-up, 6-9 VCU forward Juvonte Reddic.

When these two teams met last season in Akron, Marshall made life difficult for VCU, blocking six shots while altering a number of others.

“It felt like 15 blocks,” Smart said Tuesday.

Marshall is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game, a reasonable, albeit not outstanding number for a player of his size. Although he’s added muscle over the years – he was noticeably thinner when the Rams faced him in 2009 – Marshall weighs in at 235 pounds, and stronger players may be able to move him away from the rim with proper positioning.

In all, Marshall presents the Rams with a unique challenge, one Smart is acutely aware of.

“I don’t know much about the NBA, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t find a way to stick at the next level,” said Smart.

VCU will likely attempt to negate Marshall’s skills by pushing the pace, rather than let him set up shop in the paint. It won’t be easy, as Marshall runs the floor well for a 7-footer. Akron, meanwhile, will play play from the inside out, and then back in again.

“They’re going to try to speed us up, make us try to make mistakes and we’re going to try to throw the ball to our big guys and it’s as simple as that,” Dambrot said.