BYU defeated VCU 80-71 in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Egor Demin and Richie Saunders led BYU. Saunders had 16 points. Demin added 15. The sixth-seeded Cougars are now 25-9 and will face third-seeded Wisconsin on Saturday. VCU, 28-7, and the champions of the Atlantic 10 Conference will now go home. BYU finished third in the Big 12 conference. They were 19-of-28 on free throws (compared to just 4-of-6 for VCU). Do you think BYU will have such a free-throw advantage against Wisconsin?
BYU-VCU Game Summary
BYU and VCU played an even first 10 minutes, but BYU’s defense grew stout and shut VCU down. BYU went into halftime up 39-28 and was never seriously threatened in the second half as they just shot free throws in that half.
What happened was a little odd, but that is why they call it “March Madness.” VCU came into the game with one of the best defenses in the nation (they were ranked fifth in the nation in defensive efficiency), but BYU had just 4 first-half turnovers and 12 for the game.
The stars for BYU were Demin, who had one of his best shooting performances of the season, making long jump shots, including three-pointers. He finished with 15 points. Egor made two early threes to get BYU’s offense going and the offense was effective the rest of the game. Saunders led the team with 16 points. He is the leading scorer for the Cougars. Junior Center Keba Keita finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks. He was a physical presence for the Cougars.
Zeb Jackson scored a season-high 23 points for the VCU. Max Shulga, Joe Bamisile, and Jack Clark all added 12 points for the Rams. VCU had its best record in 13 years and was coming off winning the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles. This is the first time since 2016 that VCU made the NCAA Tournament.
BYU-VCU Game Summary News and Notes
The difference in the game was the gulf at the free-throw line. VCU Head Coach Ryan Odom noted the disparity in fouls as the Cougars shot 28 free throws and VCU shot just 6. He said, “It’s hard to keep up when you’re in that situation. Not saying anything about fouls/no fouls. It’s just they imposed their will on the game and did a nice job.”
A win over Wisconsin would give the Cougars their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2011. The best player on that team was Jimmer Fredette, who was seated behind the Cougar bench alongside Danny Ainge at the game on Thursday. BYU outrebounded VCU 40-31. Perhaps on the strength of Keita’s performance.
Demin was credited with two assists along with his 15 points, but he had another just before halftime when Jackson’s 3-point attempt bounced over the backboard and nestled up against the shot clock. Demin grabbed the ball boy’s mop and poked the ball free.
Conclusion
BYU was also a No. 6 seed in last year’s tournament when they were upset by 11th-seeded Duquesne 71-67.“We’re not ready to be done yet,” Saunders said. “It means so much that we were able to win, and get to this point that we haven’t done before.”
Wisconsin is a very good free-throw shooting team. The Cougars do not want to get into a free-throw shooting contest with the Badgers. That said, Demin is a potential NBA lottery pick. He was talking about the win courtside after the game Cougar fans chanted “One more year!”
