One more game: Men’s basketball advances to CAA Championship

Jim Swing
Assistant Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times Sports Twitter

During the post-game press conference following Sunday afternoon’s match, VCU men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart leaned over to senior forward Jamie Skeen and whispered three stimulating words: “One more game.”

It will be the most crucial for Skeen and his teammates as they advance to the CAA Tournament Championship after snapping George Mason’s nation-best 16-game winning streak with a 79-63 victory in the conference semifinals.

After dropping four-straight conference games to end the regular season for the first time in program history, Skeen told reporters Thursday that Smart had taken the month of February out of the calendar and lit it aflame before the entire team to demonstrate that it was over.

The notion had a profound impact on the team who has now won two-straight games in the CAA Tournament, including Saturday’s win over Drexel.

“We are highly motivated,” senior Joey Rodriguez said. “We knew we had to win this game to keep our hopes alive to get to the CAA championship, and as a group we just played as hard as we can and stayed together the whole game.”

A flash from the past back to VCU’s sharp-shooting ways came in the most opportune time for the Rams – a team that had shot just over 32 percent from beyond the arc in the last six games – who shot 11-for-25 (44 percent) and tracked down the missing piece to their puzzle.

VCU was able to find separation of its own on the perimeter, tying its season high for long-range buckets and falling one short of the tournament record.

Generally known as the Rams’ big-man inside, Skeen – VCU’s saving grace so far in the tournament – led the 3-point circus, dropping 4-for-6 from outside.

“Today, I don’t know what happened to me,” Skeen said. “I’ve never took six threes in one game in my life – not even in AAU – but I just felt like I could knock them down.”

The Rams dialed in eight 3-pointers in the first half that allowed them to go into the break with a 14-point lead that had much of the Richmond Coliseum in disbelief.

Following the intermission, George Mason would show little resistance, coming only as close as within seven points of the VCU lead on three separate occasions.

It became a “pick your poison” situation for the Patriots as VCU created the alternative to outside shooting by pounding the ball inside to Skeen and forcing the George Mason big-men into foul trouble early in the second half.

After allowing the Patriots to shoot 9-for-16 back in February – many of which came as open looks – the Rams closed off the perimeter all game long, holding GMU to 6-for-25 from outside.

“Just being on the edge on defense, getting out to the shooters, stopping penetration,” junior guard Bradford Burgess said. “Last game they got to the rim whenever they wanted, and that causes open shots on the perimeter as well, so we definitely focused on that this game.”

VCU has now defeated the Patriots in all four meetings between the two teams in the CAA Tournament dating back to 2004.

The victory launches the Rams into the CAA Tournament finals for the third time in five seasons as they take on Old Dominion with whom they split the regular season series.

“We didn’t play our best basketball in February, and we knew we had to play better,” Smart said. “These teams in the CAA they’re not going to give you anything – it’s too good of a league – you have to go take it from them, and I think for two consecutive days we’ve done that now, but two is not good enough – we’ve got to make it three.”