(Photo courtesy of VCU Athletics)
RICHMOND – In what many had billed the game of the year in the Atlantic 10 conference, VCU used a huge second half rally to beat George Mason, take first place in the A-10 and assert themselves as true at-large contenders for the NCAA Tournament.
The first half could only be described as a rock fight, a true defensive slugfest that ended up with George Mason up 24-23 heading into the break. The Patriots ended the first half shooting just 28.6% from the field and 27.3% from three. VCU struggled even more from the floor, shooting 24% from the field and 18.8% from three.
While it was certainly an extreme, the fact that both defenses were shining early was not a surprise. Both VCU and George Mason have some of the best defensive metrics in the country and have shown all season that they are able to win games by smothering teams on that end of the floor.
Once the second half began, VCU flipped the script and was finally able to create some offense. After a tough layup through traffic from George Mason senior center Jalen Haynes to make the score 29-27, VCU graduate guard Phillip Russell nailed a catch-and-shoot three at the top of the key to give the Rams the lead, and key a 15-0 run that ended being too much for George Mason to overcome.
“We were able to get into halftime fortunate to be down one,” VCU head coach Ryan Odom said. “We were down one at GW, so it’s not like we hadn’t been there before. It happens at different times for us. I thought our guys were very disruptive in the second half. We came out and played more like ourselves.”
George Mason turned the ball over five times during that crucial 15-0 run, giving VCU extra shots and transition opportunities to grow their lead.
“When you turn the basketball over against a good team, they make you pay for it and that’s exactly what they did,” George Mason head coach Tony Skinn said. “They didn’t do anything special, it’s hard to win games when you take tough shots and are turning the basketball over.”
With senior guard Max Shulga and graduate forward Jack Clark leading the way for VCU during the 15-0 run to go up 42-29 on VCU with 14:08 left in the second half, there was not much else George Mason could do. The Patriots were able to make it interesting at points throughout the second half, cutting the deficit to within eight at one point, but they were not able to generate enough offense to go on a run and really make it close.
“They got a little tougher. When you’re on the road, you can’t make those types of mistakes,” Skinn said. “It’s almost impossible to get this win. I’d love to have two games a year against them.”
The most impressive individual performance of the game came from Shulga, who ended his day with a game-high 22 points while shooting a hyper-efficient 5-9 from the field, 4-7 from three and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
Heading into Saturday’s game, Shulga was averaging 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 44.7% from the field and 41.7% from three. After his offensive outburst to lead VCU over George Mason, if he was not before, Shulga is now a clear favorite to be named the A-10 Player of the Year.
Most importantly for VCU, this was a resume-boosting win that puts them firmly in consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In Saint Joseph’s TV and radio analyst and ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s most recent bracketology, he had VCU as an 11 seed and one of his “Last Four In.” If VCU is able to go at least 3-1 in their final four games and make it to the semifinals of the A-10 Tournament, they should feel great about their chances to go dancing.
Despite the immense implications of Saturday’s game, VCU players weren’t feeling any of the pressure.
“It was the next game up for us,” Russell said. “George Mason was next. They were in the way, we got them out of the way.”
“This group right here is about as good as I’ve been around. They have a chance to be special. They are special, but they have a chance to do more down the line,” Odom said. “They have to remain focused on what’s in front of them and what the present brings to them and they’ve been really good at doing that… that’s the mark of a veteran team and a team that’s motivated to win.”
This veteran VCU team leaned on that experience and their ability to perform under the bright lights on Saturday. In as intense of an atmosphere that the Siegel Center has seen, the Rams were able to come back and secure a pivotal victory after being down early against an elite defense in a game with massive implications.
With four games left in the regular season and the A-10 Tournament, VCU still has work to do. But, they aced their toughest test of the season against George Mason and have put themselves in position to control their own destiny.
