DENVER — Virginia Commonwealth likely is most remembered for its surprising appearance in the Final Four in 2011.
The No. 11 Rams are looking to take the first step toward another deep run in this year’s NCAA Tournament when they face sixth-seeded BYU in the first round of the East Region on Thursday.
VCU (28-6) reached the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five years but has not made it out of the first round since 2016. The Rams boast their best record in 13 years and are coming off winning the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles.
The Atlantic 10 doesn’t have the same level of competition as the Big 12 Conference, and VCU coach Ryan Odom acknowledged that BYU (24-9) has faced stiffer opponents.
“Playing in that conference that they play in, we’re not seeing that caliber every single night,” Odom said on KSL.com. “That’s not a knock on our conference; it just is what it is. The bodies, night in and night out, are really tough to deal with and (facing) different styles. You’re facing a ranked team most nights. They’ve performed at a really, really high level.”
The Rams are led by their strong backcourt. Their top four scorers are guards Max Shulga and Joe Bamisile, who both average 15.1 points a game, Phillip Russell (10.6) and Zeb Jackson (10.4). VCU averages 77.1 points a game and has a stingy defense that allows just 62.4 points.
The Cougars had a successful first season in the tough Big 12, finishing third overall and reaching the tournament semifinals before falling to the No. 2 team in the country, Houston. That defeat ended a nine-game winning streak that included victories at Arizona, Arizona State and Iowa State.
BYU is a No. 6 seed for the second straight year, albeit in Kevin Young’s first season as a head coach. Young replaced Mark Pope, who left to coach Kentucky after taking the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament twice in four years.
Young knows his team will be ready for March Madness after playing in the Big 12.
“We’ve been playing a lot of very good basketball teams,” Young told KSL.com. “That’s the great thing about playing in the Big 12, that night in and night out we’ve been playing against some of the best teams in the country. We feel like we’re battle-tested, we feel like we’ve been through a lot, we have a lot of reference points and the momentum that we’ve had … is something that we’ll rely on.”
BYU is led by junior forward Richie Saunders, who is averaging 16.0 points a game. Egor Demin (10.3 points) is the only other Cougar scoring in double figures but they have six other players who average at least 7.1 points.
