Brooklyn, NY (Sports Network) - The Virginia Commonwealth Rams will try to
close our their first tour through the Atlantic 10 Conference with a title, as
they square off with the top-seeded Saint Louis Billikens in the tournament
championship game on Sunday afternoon at the Barclays Center.
This will be just the second bout between these schools in history. Saint
Louis coasted to a 76-62 victory in the first meeting on Feb. 19 as the
Billikens held the Rams without a field goal for a stretch of more than 10
minutes in the first half to power the win.
Juvonte Reddic had 18 points and 12 rebounds in No. 25 VCU's 71-62 win over
Massachusetts on Saturday. The 2012 CAA tournament champions will now have an
opportunity to win the A-10 tourney in their inaugural season in the league.
With 10 3-pointers in VCU's first two Atlantic 10 Tournament games, senior
Troy Daniels moved into sole possession of fifth-place on the A-10's single-
season 3-pointers list. He's now one away from Jimmy Baron's mark of 118.
Shaka Smart's squad improved to 26-0 this season when forcing 15 turnovers or
more on Saturday as it baited the Minutemen into 23 miscues with its constant
full-court press. SLU has a good chance to avoid a loss if it is able to limit
turnovers to 14 or fewer as the Rams are winless when failing to force 14. VCU
managed to win despite a poor showing from Treveon Graham, who went 1-of-12
from the floor to net just three points. Graham has been a huge part of the
Rams' success this season as he heads a list of four double-digit scorers with
15.4 ppg.
Although the Billikens were a balanced unit offensively for the majority of
the season, it has been the Dwayne Evans show in the A-10 Tournament. Evans
went 8-of-9 from the floor in the quarterfinals to post 25 points and nine
rebounds against Charlotte. He then went 7-of-10 from the field en route to a
double-double of 24 points and 11 boards against Butler on Saturday. Jim
Crews, filling in for the late Rick Majerus, led his squad to their first
outright regular-season conference title since capturing the Missouri Valley
Conference in 1956-57. Cody Ellis added 13 points in the win over Butler for
Saint Louis, which has won 14 of its last 15 games.
In the semifinals, Saint Louis shot 44.4 percent (20-of-45) and forced 20
turnovers, while giving the ball away just 11 times. The Billikens have now
forced 20 turnovers in back-to-back games. Evans leads the veteran group of
Billikens with 13.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per tilt, while Kwamain Mitchell,
Ellis, Mike McCall Jr. and Jordair Jett all play vital roles as well.
The Sports Network