High seed humbles hungry Rams

Colin Kennedy
Staff Writer

Despite entering its first Atlantic-10 tournament as the second-highest seed in the field, the VCU men’s basketball team isn’t ready to look ahead to the next round.

Earning a bye in round one, VCU (24-7, 12-4) awaits the winner of Xavier (17-13, 9-7) and St. Joseph’s (17-12, 8-8) for Friday’s second round matchup.

Xavier (seventh seed) and St. Joe’s (10th seed) will square off Thursday night to determine who will advance to Friday’s contest, but the Rams have made it clear they won’t be preoccupied with the outcome.

To some, the added night of rest might be cause for concern; however, head coach Shaka Smart has made it clear that there is no room for distractions.

As for their week of preparation, Smart says that neither potential opponent will garner much attention in practice.

“They both present unique challenges,” Smart said. “We can’t get too caught up in trying to prepare for both of those teams. It has to be more about us.”

Focusing only on what they can control, the Rams remain wary that both Xavier and St. Joe’s are capable of pulling off the upset.

After all, St. Joe’s was the preseason A-10 favorite while Xavier has compiled impressive victories against Butler, Memphis and St. Louis.

Each team played VCU down to the wire in the regular season, and though the Black and Gold came out victorious both times, nobody is overlooking the opposition.

“Even though we won both games I think it’s important for our team to have a tremendous level respect for the fact that (each) game could have gone the other way,” Smart said. “We need to play better.”

That memo obviously reverberated throughout the locker room and was echoed by players during Tuesday’s press conference at the Siegel Center.

When asked about the team’s focus in relation to its almost certain NCAA tournament bid, senior guard Darius Theus made the message crystal clear.

“Same approach, he said. “We still want to win this (A-10) tournament even if we still have a (probable) chance to be in the (NCAA) Tournament. We are still trying to get this championship.”

The ambition doesn’t stop with the seniors, though.

Sophomore Treveon Graham and freshman Melvin Johnson reiterated Tuesday that, for the present time, VCU basketball has one goal in sight: an A-10 title.

All of the Rams will put their preparation to the test this Friday when they tip off at 6:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

A city that many have labeled the “Mecca of Basketball” is the same place Melvin Johnson calls home.

VCU just hopes Brooklyn is the site of its first ever A-10 Tournament Championship.