In March, when the next loss means the end of the season for many programs across the country, much of the conversation is about building momentum entering the conference tournament.
The VCU Rams (19-12, 11-7 Atlantic 10) have not done that this season.
The Rams limp into Brooklyn on a three-game losing streak, dropping a narrow road loss to Richmond and a double-digit home loss to Duquesne before losing the final A-10 Friday ESPN showcase game in overtime to No. 25 Dayton in a squeaker.
While the Rams led by as many as 17 points in the Friday night contest and played exceptional against a team many have tapped as the favorites in Brooklyn, the loss meant that VCU did not clinch the double-bye in the A-10 tournament and open their postseason on Wednesday afternoon as the No. 5 seed against No. 12 Fordham.
Before Wednesday afternoon’s Rams vs. Rams matchup, here are the things to know as VCU enters postseason play.
Mad Max
VCU senior guard Max Shulga was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team on Tuesday, the only VCU player honored in this year’s roundup of A-10 awards.
The Utah State transfer had a banner year in 2023-24, notching career highs in points per game (15) and rebounds per game (4.6) on 44.3% shooting from the floor.
The Ukrainian played in 30 of VCU’s 31 games, missing just the home finale against Duquesne with back spasms.
On the season, Shulga led VCU in a variety of stats, including total minutes (992), points per game, made 3-pointers (76) and total assists (108).
As such, Shulga often stuffed the stat sheet across categories, perhaps most notably in a 13-point, 10-rebound, 7-assist performance against Fordham on Feb. 6 that gave Shulga his first double-double as a Ram and had him flirt with the first VCU triple-double in many years.
Ten days later, Shulga notched his season-high of 26 points in a road victory against Saint Louis, connecting on five 3-pointers and adding seven rebounds to a standout performance.
In sum, Shulga was VCU’s best, most consistent player in 2023-24, and the senior has been rewarded with one of the A-10’s highest honors.
Shulga’s award continues a mini streak for VCU. This year marks the fourth straight year that VCU has placed a player in the A-10 All-Conference First Team, with Shulga joining Bones Hyland (2021), Vince Williams (2022) and Ace Baldwin (2023) as recent honorees.
Additionally, former VCU guard Tre Clark III was named to the A-10 All-Conference Second Team following a standout year at Duquesne.
Injury report
VCU will make the journey to Brooklyn with no names on the injury report – a relative rarity for VCU this season.
Through 31 games, the quartet of Max Shulga, Sean Bairstow, Joe Bamisile and Zeb Jackson have all been active just 15 times, with Bamisile and Bairstow each missing the first 10 games of the season due to Bairstow’s foot fracture and Bamisile’s eligibility concerns.
As such, much of VCU’s potential remained unrealized for significant portions of the schedule, namely during the important non-conference slate when tournament resumes can be built.
The quartet are the only Rams averaging double figures on the season, with all shooting above 40% from the floor except Jackson, who is shooting 39.9% from the field.
Additional injury concerns surrounded redshirt freshman Fats Billups, who had to be helped off the floor late in the first half in last week’s loss to Duquesne. Billups was active in the Dayton game on Friday, playing four minutes in the overtime loss.
The best ability is availability, and VCU has weathered the storm and has all players ready for a potential four-games-in-five-days run in Brooklyn.
Key players
Beyond all-conference selection Shulga, VCU’s most significant players are the other double-digit scorers: Sean Bairstow, Zeb Jackson and Joe Bamisile.
Bairstow’s averages approach Shulga’s in minutes per game and his total assists trail just Shulga and Jackson despite missing 13 games due to injury. Bairstow is a great facilitator and can see the floor well, and has recently uncorked some athleticism in the paint with some great dunking ability.
Bamisile is among the conference’s best sixth men, providing a scoring spark off the bench and igniting VCU’s offense when it becomes stagnant. He most notably pieced together back-to-back 25-point games earlier this season – the first time a VCU player has done that in seven years.
The team captain, Jackson has recently shown his ability to take over games with a career-high 26 points in Friday’s loss to Dayton. Jackson is second on the team in assists and is a reliable presence running the offense. If things get tough, look for head coach Ryan Odom to lean on his veteran guard.
Of course, players of note would not be complete without sophomore Tobi Lawal, who dazzles with his pure athleticism and vertical. Along with Christian Fermin, Lawal’s defensive presence in the paint will be key in battling against some of the other bigs in the conference, while his dunking ability will be sure to make an all-A-10 tournament highlight reel.
Possibly key to VCU’s success is the 3-pointer, and nobody can shoot it as well as grad transfer Kuany Kuany. After an ice cold start to the season, Kuany ended the season shooting just a hair over 40% from 3-point range, second on the team of players with more than 30 attempts. Kuany has the ability to light it up from deep, which could become important if VCU begins to trail in the tournament.
Fordham preview
Fordham trailed for much of the game Tuesday against No. 13 Davidson before a late Kyle Rose jumper sent the Rams into overtime.
From there, an explosive 7-0 run to begin overtime buried the Wildcats, who would not score for the first 4:57 of the overtime period. Fordham hung on to win by eight points and set up a rematch against VCU, who defeated Fordham at Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx 75-60 on Feb. 6.
On that day, Shulga and Bamisle led VCU with 13 points each. It was the only game that Bairstow came off the bench in this season, as he was returning from injury. The grad transfer from Australia flirted with a double-double, ending with 12 points and eight assists on the day.
Fordham’s team leader in points is Rose, who is averaging 10.5 points per game while shooting 42.5% from the floor and 38.8% from deep. The fifth-year senior was also named to the A-10 All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive year on Tuesday.
On the season, Rose is averaging 2.1 steals per game, good for 40th in the country. His 64 total steals rank him second in the conference entering tournament play, trailing Tre Clark.
Rose added five more to that mark on Tuesday in the win against Davidson, to pair with six rebounds, four assists and five points.
But the story of the game on Tuesday was sophomore guard Will Richardson, who scored 20 points in the game to pace the Rams. Sixteen of those points came in the second half.
Josh Rivera added 14 points of his own on the day, connecting six times from the floor on seven attempts.
The gameplan for VCU? Lock in on Kyle Rose and find a way to slow down Abdou Tsimbila, Fordham’s 6-9 big man. The senior from Cameroon came one point shy of a double-double on Tuesday and leads Fordham with 6.4 rebounds per game. Tsimbila ranks second in the conference in blocks per game at 2.3.
No. 5 VCU and No. 12 Fordham will tip off from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the second game of the tournament’s second round. USA Network will have live television coverage.
Nuggets of note
- Wednesday is the first time VCU has been seeded outside of the double bye since the canceled 2020 tournament, when VCU and UMass made up the No.8 vs No. 9 matchup. The tournament was canceled as the Rams and Minutemen were warming up for a 12 p.m. tip-off.
- In a contested A-10 tournament, VCU has never failed to make it to the quarterfinals. In 10 prior contested A-10 tournaments, VCU has made the title game seven times and lost three times in the quarterfinals.
- If VCU is able to complete the A-10 tournament run with a championship on Sunday, it will be VCU’s third since joining the conference in 2012-13. The Rams would also become the first back-to-back champion since Temple, which three-peated from 2008-2010 under head coach Fran Dunphy.
- Both of VCU’s prior A-10 titles were clinched at the Barclays Center, the host of this year’s tournament.
- Head coach Ryan Odom enters the A-10 tournament with one career conference tournament title: the 2018 America East championship with UMBC. Later that month, the UMBC Retrievers knocked off Virginia, the No. 1 overall seed, and became the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA tournament.
- The winner of VCU and Fordham’s Wednesday tilt will take on No. 4 UMass on Thursday in the A-10 quarterfinals. The Minutemen, playing their penultimate A-10 tournament, boast two All-Conference First Team selections in Josh Cohen and Matt Cross. UMass defeated VCU 74-52 on Feb. 20 in the only matchup between the two teams this season.
