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| VCU Rams / XJohnx/ Wikimedia Commons |
In order to get to the Final Four, the VCU Rams needed five wins, as they were required to win a play-in game to even have a spot in the round of 64. They had the tough task of defeating higher ranked teams every step of the way including Southern California, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and regional number one seed Kansas, which they dominated by a whopping twenty points. Despite being the lowest ranked team in the Final Four, VCU will win the NCAA tournament mainly because of its three-point scoring ability. In their last game against Kansas, VCU hit twelve three-pointers, shooting almost 50% from behind the arc.
In addition to having good shooting, the Rams show a balanced offense where four or five players do the scoring, as opposed to having their offense centered around one player. Their bench does well in supporting the starters, as 22 points were scored by the bench against Kansas. The Rams two key players, Joey Rodriguez and Jamie Skeen are the generals of the team. Rodriguez is one of the quickest point guards in the college basketball, who has great range and can hit shots from 24 feet, especially in clutch situations. Skeen is a forward who can play almost the whole game while avoiding foul trouble, and in this tournament is averaging 21 points per game on 51% field goal shooting.
The Rams are backed by an intense desire to prove to the world that VCU has a great basketball program. Head coach Shaka Smart said,."Our guys have done a phenomenal job of putting all the doubters aside, all the people that didn't believe in us, and going out to do their job." They have sold out their allotted tickets the past few games, giving them a "home-crowd" advantage no matter where they play.
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