The tournament is down to four. Friday’s quarterfinals at PPG Paints Arena are in the books. Starting with a huge comeback, it was quite a day, and night…
Saint Louis 88 George Washington 81
Possessions: 74
Offensive Efficiency: Saint Louis 118, George Washington 109
Dayton 68 St. Bonaventure 63
Possessions: 66
Offensive Efficiency: Dayton 103, St. Bonaventure 96
VCU 71 Duquesne 66
Possessions: 65
Offensive Efficiency: VCU 110, Duquesne 102
Saint Joseph’s 70 Davidson 58
Possessions: 61
Offensive Efficiency: Saint Joseph’s 115, Davidson 95
Duquesne stayed competitive in their matchup with VCU. The Dukes led by three late in the first half. VCU went on a 16-3 run though to open up a double-figure lead. Duquesne responded and was within two with 37 seconds remaining. At that point VCU’s Terrence Hill jr. hit a free throw and Michael Belle came up with a steal on Duquesne’s next possession to ice it. Alex Williams of Duquesne and VCU’s Terrence Hill jr. shared scoring honors with 20 each.
Saint Louis came back from 21 points down to advance to the semis. It was the largest comeback in school history.
The well ran dry. George Washington shot the ball well from three early in the contest. At the half the Revolutionaries were hitting at a 40% clip (9 of 22). The second half they cooled off to 24% (4 for 17).
GW’s inside presence was limited to seven points. Castro had eight rebounds but his effectiveness was limited to foul trouble. He fouled out late in the contest.
Saint Louis’ Robbie Avila, the A10 Player of the Year, posted a game-high 22 points, four assists and a number of great plays that do not always show up in the box score.
Deja vu. Chris Caputo’s club lost a 79-76 decision at Saint Louis in late January. In that game the Billikens staged a double-figure comeback to get the win.
Further good news for Saint Louis as it was reported that coach Josh Schertz, whose name was surfacing regarding other openings, is staying at the school.
St. Bonaventure’s exit marked the conclusion of Mark Schmidt’s outstanding 19 year tenure at the school. The coach’s final game was greeted with resounding praise and love on social media.
For the Bonnies, poor free throw shooting 18 of 28 for 64% was a factor. As was Javon Bennett of Dayton going for a game-high 27 points. Bennett shot 6 of 10 from three. The Bonnies hit only three beyond the arc with a 3 of 10 (30%) showing. Frank Mitchell (20) and Buddy Simmons (16) combined for over half of the Bonaventure points.
Davidson ran into a Saint Joseph’s team, now winners of seven straight. At the half, the game was a two possession contest with the Hawks in the lead. Two 12-2 runs by Steve Donahue’s Hawks in the final stanza opened it up.
Davidson shot 4 of 8 (50%) from the line. Saint Joseph’s was 22 of 26 for 85%. Kenpom.com pointed out that Saint Joseph’s 2 point field goal difference was 4.2’ as opposed to 7.2’ by the Wildcats. The Hawks got closer to the basket thus getting in a position to draw fouls. Jaiden Glover-Toscano of Saint Joseph’s led all scorers with 19 points.
Semifinals:
Saint Louis vs. Dayton
VCU vs. Saint Joseph’s
