Round 3: VCU meets Mason for third time, this time for spot in championship
Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor
It’s been an epic chapter in the VCU-George Mason rivalry in this season, which is why it is only fitting that the two teams would meet in the CAA Tournament as well.
The teams enter today’s(4:30 p.m.) semifinal matchup each having won one game against each other and the deciding third game will not only determine the winner of the season series, but also brings the winner one step away from clinching an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.
VCU (26-6, 15-3) cruised in its first game of the postseason on Saturday, forcing 25 turnovers in a 75-65 win over Northeastern. In the night game, Mason (24-8, 14-4) beat Georgia State. 61-59 on a layup by Bryon Allen with a little over three seconds left in the game. Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison had both fouled out at that point, which would have made Georgia St. the clear favorite going into overtime.
For the second seeded Rams, Saturday went without a hitch. They controlled the pace of the game and rolled past a talented Northeastern team, then sat in the bleachers and scouted their potential opponents as Mason played GSU. After the Northeastern game, VCU players said they had no preference as to who they wanted to face, and when Shaka Smart was asked at the postgame press conference who he wanted to play, he told the reporter, “Come on, you know me better than that.”
Smart and the VCU players have made an art out of not giving opponents any potential bulletin board material, but Bradford Burgess said among the many emotions he was feeling on Senior Night when VCU beat Mason 89-77 was anger, which was stemming from the moment before the game when the Patriot players ran onto the court for warm-ups as the ceremony was still taking place. Smart said the team fed off that incident, which is likely still fresh in the players’ minds.
The Patriots have plenty of emotions to feed off of as well, with Player of the Year Ryan Pearson trying to lead them to one final NCAA Tournament in his last season.
Today will essentially be a home game for VCU with the tournament being played at the Richmond Coliseum, which is especially meaningful because the home team won both meetings between the two teams this season. The Rams won by 12 on their home court last Saturday as the Mason players lost their composure by committing two technical fouls and a flagrant foul, but proved their fortitude by coming out on top against Georgia State last night.
Sunday is likely to be a much closer game than the last meeting, considering the implications are that the winner gets to face either Drexel or Old Dominion on Monday night in the conference championship. With all the history between Mason and VCU, fans and media around the entire CAA are buzzing that this game has the potential for a classic, simply because it has all the makings of one.
