2011 NCAA Tournament: Virginia Commonwealth Pulls Major Upset, Dominates Purdue 94-76

From Hammer & Rails:

I do not want to take anything away from Virginia Commonwealth, who is an excellent team that played a nearly perfect ballgame. They deserved to win tonight because they were the better team pretty much from the beginning. They took advantage of our deficiencies and continued to do so for as long as we flat out refused to adjust for them. It was easy for them. They didn’t have to adjust a thing.

That is where the disappointment comes in. Each success this season has been built on adjustments. We lost Robbie, but adjusted to start strong. We got drilled in Columbus, but adjusted to beat probably the best team in the country in a rematch. We lost to Minnesota and Wisconsin on the road, but adjusted to beat them at home.

Tonight we did not do that. No one, not even our All-America seniors, player made the conscious decision to cut off the middle of the lane. VCU kept going to it time, and time, and time again, and we never once even tried to adjust to it. That’s why I have to give them credit. they stuck to what was working and decided to do so until we stopped it. We never did.

In the mean time, we lost because we didn’t play the style of basketball that we have prided ourselves on not only for this season, but for decades. We have lived up to every stereotype that our rivals have thought of for us. When we had a chance for greatness, we faltered. We didn’t play Purdue style of basketball and lost a game by playing the worst defense we have played in who knows how long. We suffered yet another heartbreaking loss and ended another season in disappointment that has sadly become the hallmark of our program. this time it wasn’t like the last two years,when we lost to a superior team but went down fighting. Instead, we went down with a whimper.

On a day where there were many shocking, last-second, upset victories, the game that likely opened everyone's eyes was the 94-76 blowout win for No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth over No. 3 seed Purdue.

How dominant were the Rams?

They had a ten point lead at halftime, and then came out and scored 52 points in the second half. VCU’s shooting was blistering, hitting on 56% of their shots. Bradford Burgess was 8-11 from the floor, including 3-4 from three-point range. VCU passed the ball exceptionally well, with Joey Rodriguez dishing out 11 assists to go with 12 points.

For Purdue, the loss was devastating, especially for Big Ten player of the year JuJuan Johnson. Johnson, a senior, scored 25 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. He wasn’t the problem. His team gave him little, if any, help on either end of the court.

E’Twaun Moore scored 10 points, but was 5-15 from the field. Ryne Smith had 20 points, but Purdue’s defense was simply non-existent. The Boilermakers also shot only 43% from the floor, and were 8-27 from three-point land.

The loss ends Purdue’s season, which saw disappointing finishes to close the regular season (loss to lowly Iowa) and in the Big Ten tournament (lost in their first game to Michigan St.).

For the VCU Rams, they move on to the Sweet Sixteen to take on the winner of the Florida St. vs. Notre Dame game.

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There are some that worried Virginia Commonwealth's third game in five days during the 2011 NCAA Tournament would be a detriment due to fatigue. Through 20 minutes of basketball, fatigue has not shown as the Rams lead third seeded Purdue 42-32 at halftime. The Rams have led by as much as 13 and have already scored one point less than St. Peter's scored against the Boilermakers on Friday night.

The Rams have hit 51% of their shots from the field and they have limited E`Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson to 13 points combined. Ryne Smith has scored 14 for the Boilermakers, including four 3-pointers, but a big 17-3 run midway through the half has allowed Virginia Commonwealth to take command even with Jamie Skeen on the bench with foul trouble.

Bradford Burgess and Brandon Rozzell have 10 points each for the Rams, who have repeatedly penetrated Purdue's vaunted defense to hit multiple short range jumpers. Purdue inability to defend the 15-20 foot jump shot, something that they have done well all season long, has spelled its undoing. Virginia Commonwealth is also outhustling the Boilers while limiting turnovers. The Rams have just three turnovers, and they are making few other mistakes.

Purdue is in search of its third straight appearance in the Sweet 16 when it faces Virginia Commonwealth tonight in Chicago. The Rams have been one of the stories of the tournament so far, winning a First Four game in Dayton before upsetting Georgetown on Friday night. Hammer & Rails has a full preview of this matchup:

This is a team that is tested and used to postseason success. They were in the NCAA’s two seasons ago and won last year’s CBI Tournament. That may not sound like much, but it is a major postseason tournament and they won the thing. To me, that counts for something. If you’re going to be invited to these things you might as well try to win them. Their seniors have won 100 basketball games in the past four seasons.

This season they have played a handful of NCAA Tournament teams, so they are well prepared for this point in the season. They defeated UCLA, Old Dominion, George Mason, and Wofford, but lost to Richmond, Tennessee, UAB, Old Dominion (twice) and George Mason. It is a bit of a surprise they earned an at large bid after losing four of their last five regular season game, but I think there is no question they belong.

I think this could be a favorable matchup because they like to press the entire game. If we’re turning the ball over like we did last night I think we’re in trouble. I have seen us break presses in the past, however. We don’t often run on teams, but I think our guys can take advantage of things if we do run. Lewis Jackson obviously can play at a fast pace. I think the rest of our guys can follow suit, even at a shortened roster of seven regulars. Remember the Baylor game when JaJuan Johnson and E`Twaun Moore were freshmen. They said we could run with them and we ended up running them off the floor.

VCU is a very balanced team. 6’9" forward Jamie Skeen will match up very well with JJ. He is also a senior, and he leads them with 15.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He played his first two seasons at Wake Forest before transferring to VCU. He can match up very well with JJ because he is a 3-point shooter too. He will pull him away from the post defensively and he can play outside with him on the other end. This is where Travis Carroll and possibly Patrick Bade will come in to play. Carroll is a better perimeter defender than he is a post defender, so I could see him handling Skeen outside while JJ stays inside. Skeen shoots almost 40% from three and 52% from the field. He also does well from the line at 72%.

Bradford Burgess is a 6’6" guard that will probably make us miss Kelsey Barlow a little because of his size. He averages 13.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He can play their E`Twaun role because Joey Rodriguez is their Lewis Jackson. He is a very LewJack-esque point guard because he loves to push the tempo and he plays all over the floor. He is a 5’10" senior point guard that averages 10.7 points and almost five assists per game. He’s also a very capable defender in their press.

Finally, you have Brandon Rozzell, another senior averaging better than 11 points per game. He had 26 last night on six three-pointers. He’s only 6’2", but last night he proved he is a capable scorer when he needs to be.

The Virginia Commonwealth Rams pulled off something no team has ever done in the history of the NCAA Tournament Friday night: They became the first team to win a game after being forced to play in a First Four game. Normally a pair of victories is enough to get a team to the Sweet 16, but VCU needs one more after beating Georgetown. The Rams will face off against Purdue in round 3 of the 2011 NCAA Tournament in Chicago.

The Rams connected on 12 of 24 three-points attempts to topple the sixth seeded Hoyas in a mild upset. many questioned if VCU was a tournament-worthy team when the field was announced, but the Rams have certainly proved they belong. Brandon Rozzell had a season high 26 points, including six 3-pointers for the Rams. Purdue will have to combat VCU’s helter-skelter full court press, but the Boilermakers have been known to play some defense of their own.

Defense was a major failing for Georgetown, as the Hoyas failed to stop VCU from the perimeter. Four different Rams reached double figures, while the return of point guard Chris Wright did not make a different for the Hoyas who closed the season on a five game losing streak.

Travis Miller from Hammer & Rails has more reaction from Purdue’s win over St. Peter’s:

This was exactly what we needed.

It was far from pretty, but you can expect that when you face a strong defensive team like St. Peter’s. Their defense was good, especially on everyone but JaJuan Johnson and E`Twaun Moore, but ours was much better. We didn’t get a lot out of everyone else, but we will be very successful as long as guys like Lewis Jackson, D.J. Byrd, and Terone Johnson keep up with these contributions. We’re to the point of the season where I don’t care about looking pretty. I just want to keep winning. That is all that matters.

Sure, there were still some concerns. Ryne Smith is not hitting open shots. Smooge is on a strange streak of turnovers (an ugly seven tonight). We still haven’t had a great shooting game, but we didn’t need any of those things tonight. We took advantage of the huge positives we had in our favor to dominate a weaker team. It was just business. It is not like there is a committee judging how pretty our wins are anymore. We’re alive now and, after tonight, only 32 teams will have a chance at being this year’s National Champion. We’re one of those 32 teams.

Earlier this week St. Peter's Nick Leon stated that Purdue needed to worry about matching up with St. Peter's. The Boilermakers did just that. Purdue held the Peacocks to just 43 points, the fewest number of points a team has scored so far in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, as the Boilermakers cruised to an easy 65-43 second round victory. Purdue has the longest active streak of opening round victories in NCAA Tournament play, as they have won at least one game now in 13 consecutive tournament appearances.

E`Twaun Moore scored 19 points for Purdue while JaJuan Johnson had 16 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocked shots. The seniors, who both returned this season after declaring for the NBA draft, now move a step closer to their goal of reaching a Final Four. Lewis Jackson also added 12 for Purdue, who led by 20 points for much of the second half and was never really threatened after a 14-0 runt hat spanned halftime put them ahead 40-17 early in the second half. The 17 points that St. peter's scored in the opening half is the lowest scoring first half for any team in this year's NCAA Tournament.

Jeron Belin had 12 points to lead the Peacocks.

both Purdue and St. Peter's pride themselves on stout defense. So fat the Peacocks have forced Purdue into some difficulty shots, but Purdue has forced 8 turnovers and has allowed St. Peter's to hit just 7 of 27 shots from the field in the first half. As a result, Purdue leads comfortably 33-17 at halftime of their 2011 NCAA Tournament second round game.

The 17 points from St. Peter's is the fewest scored by a team int he first half of this year's NCAA Tournament, though Tennessee did only score 16 in the second half of their game with Michigan earlier today. JaJuan Johnson has 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots for Purdue, who had lost two straight coming into the tournament. E`Twaun Moore has nine for Purdue, but Terone Johnson has provided a scoring burst off the bench with five points.

St. Peter's, one of the lowest scoring teams in Division I, is hitting barely 25% of its shots from the field. Wesley Jenkins leads them with four points, but has attempted seven shots. Purdue has yet to attempt a free throw, but the Boilermakers have made the most of their opportunities to break down the Peacock defense.