Incredible defense and deadly three-point shooting gave the Rams a 74-64 victory over the Patriots in the CAA semi-final on Sunday. Over 11,000 fans watched in-person as VCU demoralized their rival for the second time in little more than a week.
The Rams made their first eight three-pointers and rushed out to a staggering 22-0 lead. A barrage of threes, as well as the Rams creating nine turnovers in the first nine minutes, enabled VCU to lead this game wire-to-wire. VCU guard Troy Daniels had never seen anything like it.
“Never, never,” Daniels said in reference to the first nine minutes. “Not even in AAU.”
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The massive 22-0 first-half run was not the only reason the Rams prevailed Sunday. They limited CAA player of the year Ryan Pearson to just six points on 2-3 shooting. Pearson struggled to find his footing all weekend in the Richmond Coliseum.
“Part of that equation is VCU,” GMU head coach Paul Hewitt said in reference to Pearson’s disappearance. “They did a great job defensively as did Georgia State, doubling him every time he caught the ball.”
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The Patriots almost did the impossible. They fought hard to climb back into a college basketball game in which they trailed by 28 points. Just like Saturday’s game against GSU, Mike Morrison was leading the charge for George Mason.
“I give a lot of credit [to GMU],” VCU head coach Shaka Smart said. “They made seemingly every big shot to stay in the game … I thought Mike Morrison was terrific.”
Down the stretch GMU senior Andre Cornelius connected on a fall away three to cut the Rams' lead to 56-47 with 10 minutes and 33 seconds remaining in the second half. But Bradford Burgess was there to answer with a huge three to take away some Patriot momentum.
Burgess, who was tied with GMU’s Morrison for a game high 20 points, was as good in this game as he was in Stuart Siegel Center just eight days ago. He went 5-10 from beyond the arc, including big shots to stop Patriots runs while GMU was scuffling to remain in contention.
The key to winning the game was “Just aggression,” Burgess said. “Being aggressive offensively and defensively. Keeping them out of their sets. We got them into turnovers in the beginning and we were able to take advantage of it.”
George Mason got within six points when Morrison hit two free throws with 3:12 to go. But a missed, highly-contested layup by Morrison and a failed tip-in by sophomore Jonathan Arledge prevented the Patriots from creeping any closer.
VCU will play in the CAA championship game tomorrow night verses the No. 1 seeded Drexel Dragons. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. The winner will be crowned CAA champion, and will be guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament later this month.
