A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP VIDEO ROUND-UP

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RAMS TURN ON A DIME, TOPPLE TOP-SEEDED DAVIDSON

Mo Alie-Cox (left) provided 18 points and eight rebounds as VCU knocked off regular season champion Davidson 93-73 in the A-10 semifinals.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Momentum is a funny, nebulous concept, but if there was ever proof of how quickly it can shift, it was VCU’s impressive – and for many, unexpected – 93-73 upset of regular season champ Davidson Saturday in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals at Barclays Center.

Left for dead a little over a week ago by some prognosticators, VCU is back to wreaking havoc on brackets. The Rams are storming into the A-10 title game for the third straight year Sunday, where they’ll take on Dayton. The Flyers topped Rhode Island in Saturday’s semifinal nightcap. It will be VCU’s fifth straight appearance in a conference championship game.

Just days ago, VCU’s victory would have been considered as unlikely as a Knicks winning streak. At times, the Rams made it look easy against Davidson, hitting 12 three-pointers on the way to victory.

The Rams didn’t just beat a red-hot Davidson team Saturday, avenging an 82-55 blowout loss on March 5, VCU dominated the Wildcats for long stretches, and displayed championship form. It was Davidson’s first loss in 11 games, and VCU’s best performance since losing point guard Briante Weber to injury on Jan. 31. VCU’s 93 points were the most by a Davidson opponent in three months.

“We played with a lot of enthusiasm today. We wanted to go out there and attack from the get-go. We had our ups and downs and responded pretty well today, and we’re going to have to do that for the rest of the season,” said senior Treveon Graham, who finished with 18 points.

It had been nine days since VCU and Davidson last met, but it might as well have been nine years.

VIDEO: RAMS SQUASH SPIDERS IN A-10 QUARTERS

FORDHAM POSTGAME

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JUSTIN TILLMAN BLOCKED SHOT

GROWING PAINS BETTER IN NOVEMBER THAN MARCH

Senior Briante Weber led VCU with 13 points and five rebounds Monday.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – On Monday, VCU played its fourth game in a 31-game regular season. It was the 11^th day of the 115-day of the 2014-15 campaign. It didn’t go well. Okay, it went very bad. Okay, it was like getting hit by a subway car.

Look, there’s nothing I can write to rub out what transpired Monday night on the Barclays Center floor. After 22 minutes of really competitive basketball, 12^th-Villanova blitzed VCU on the way to a 77-53 win. That’s a cold, hard reality.

But before we lose ourselves in an ugly box score, remember that after tonight, there were only 104 days left until the Atlantic 10 Tournament on this Barclays Center floor – more than three months. The season is roughly nine percent complete.

History is also on the side of Shaka Smart and the Rams. Without so much as turning a page in the media guide, one can point to underwhelming performances by the Rams at the 2011 Charleston Classic early in a season that ended within a hair of a Sweet 16 appearance. Just over a year ago, VCU absorbed an 85-67 loss at the hands of Florida State in Puerto Rico. That was a runaway train from start to finish. The Rams won 23 more games after that and 26 overall.

BEHIND THE CURTAIN: SHAKA SMART AT A-10 MEDIA DAY

Videographer Mike Voyack followed Shaka Smart around at Atlantic 10 Media Day in Brooklyn this week. He offers this behind the scenes report.

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Also, Shaka Smart’s knowledge of the 1986 World Series Champion New York Mets is pretty impressive.

BROOKLYN & BACK: A-10 MEDIA DAY

Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Basketball Media Day has come and gone. Here’s a sampling of the day that was at Barclays Center.

SHAKA SMART REALLY LOVES PANCAKES

Shaka Smart knows more about pancakes than any person I've ever met. I'm being serious. #LetsGoVCU

— Around The Horns (@VCUHorns) October 14, 2014

Shaka Smart likes pancakes and other A10 media day observations. http://t.co/YAWWLkc2ZL

— Dana O'Neil (@DanaONeilWriter) October 14, 2014

THE RAMS ARE THE UNANIMOUS PRESEASON FAVORITES

VCU Unanimous Pick To Win A-10 Men’s Basketball: http://t.co/VaWrnqDI3F

— Atlantic 10 Conference (@atlantic10) October 14, 2014

TITLE GAME LOSS NOT THE ARBITER OF VCU SEASON’S WORTHINESS

VCU fell to Saint Joseph’s Sunday in the A-10 Championship Game, but the Rams are dancing anyway.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Two years ago, this column would have been a eulogy. Today, it’s merely a reminder of how far the VCU program has come and where it’s headed.

VCU suffered a cruel blow Sunday at Barclays Center with a 65-61 loss to Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 Championship Game. It was a near repeat of 12 months ago, when Saint Louis dealt the Rams a similarly close championship game loss on the same floor.

Emotion caught up to the weight of those two losses Sunday. At the final horn, which cut short VCU’s furious attempt at a comeback, senior Juvonte Reddic crouched down near the VCU basket and buried his head in his shirt. It wasn’t until teammate Jarred Guest and Assistant Coach Mike Rhoades came over to comfort Reddic that he finally left the floor.

It’s understandable that Reddic would be crestfallen. For a second straight year, VCU came within a couple of bounces of a championship. That’s hard to handle, for sure.

But the tonic for what ails Reddic and VCU fans right now should be this: In the two years since the Rams last won a conference championship, the 2012 CAA title, the program has blossomed into a consistent national force. That doesn’t blunt the pain of a championship loss on Sunday, but it does make for a better Monday. That’s because by then, VCU will be making travel arrangements for a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament trip.

In 2011, VCU had to sweat out the NCAA Selection Show after losing to Old Dominion in the CAA Championship Game. Actually, many of the players didn’t bother to watch the show at all. Today, all they had to worry about was whether or not they needed to pack shorts or fleece. The answer is shorts, by the way, as VCU drew a 5-seed and will play Stephen F. Austin in San Diego Friday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

RAMS TAKE DIE KOELNER BIERHALLE

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Last year, local pub Die Koelner Bierhalle became the headquarters of Ram Nation North. VCU fans flocked to the neighborhood bar and restaurant to hang out with other VCU fans, watch games and prep for the Atlantic 10 Tournament. KBH, as it is known, became the pregame and postgame spot for Rams fans, and that is expected to continue this year.

On Thursday, we dropped by to see what makes the place so special. If you’re in the neighborhood Friday before (or after) VCU’s game with Richmond, drop by KBH.

DROVES OF FANS FUEL RAMS IN BROOKLYN

VCU fans packed Barclays Center last season as the Rams earned a berth into the Championship Game.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – After a few phone calls and some Internet research, I’ve been able to confirm that there is not, in fact, a VCU satellite campus in the New York metropolitan area.

But you’d have a hard time selling that to impartial observers at Barclays Center during last season’s Atlantic 10 Championship. It seemed as if there were Rams fans everywhere. Official numbers are not available, but anybody with a pulse and a ticket last season could’ve told you that VCU fans outnumbered other schools at the tournament by a wide margin.

They were boisterous, backed by VCU’s dynamic pep band, The Peppas, and they were impressive. VCU fans seemed to embrace the experience more fully than perhaps any other league school.

And it wasn’t just at Barclays Center. VCU fans flocked to Brooklyn in droves, flooding the city with black and gold. Die Koelner Bierhall, a German beer hall practically in the shadow of the arena, became the de facto headquarters for Rams fans. The pep band gallivanted around town in a bus wrapped in VCU graphics and the marketing slogan “Havoc Lives Here”. Normally, that means Richmond, but in March, Havoc was highly mobile. The Peppas also shoehorned their way onto the “Today Show”, blaring their eclectic mix of bombastic tunes from atop the bus. And of course, there was Spike Lee.

The extracurricular events were nice, but the real benefit to VCU fans’ willingness to follow the Rams to the Big Apple was on the court. Players may have been focused on playing the game, but they weren’t wearing blinders and earplugs. They saw the sea of humanity. They heard the brass-based rallying cries. And they say it made a difference.

“We can take a deep breath because we’re not just here by ourselves,” says junior guard Briante Weber. “[It’s] a sign of relief when we see people that come out from Richmond to all the way from wherever we are. It just shows how much our fan base follows us and how much they really love to watch us play and we appreciate it.”