Record: 26-8, 12-4 A-10
Seed: 5-seed in South Region
RPI: 24
Coach: Shaka Smart, fourth season, third NCAA tournament appearance
Last NCAA tournament appearance: Lost to Indiana in Round of 32 (2012)
Notable Wins: Memphis, Belmont, Butler
Treveon Graham may be the Rams’ top scorer, but it’s Juvonte Reddic that does the dirty work, leading the way in rebounds (8.3), blocks (0.9) and field goal percentage (56.1), along with ranking second in scoring at 14.4 per game. He’s simply the most reliably productive player left over from VCU’s 2011 Final Four run and is a menace in the paint on a team that, because of its relative lack of size, prides itself on being smaller and quicker. If Smart’s Rams are going to make another run this time around, Reddic will need to be that stabilizing force he’s been for much of the year.
We all know about the Havoc defense. It’s the calling card of a team that produces 11.8 steals per game, which leads the nation. But it’s Graham, the Rams’ sophomore playmaker, that’s done the most with those extra possessions, averaging a team-high 15.5 points per game for a team that’s scoring 77.3 points per game (fifth in Division I). He’s also a factor on the glass, grabbing six rebounds a game. Despite scoring at least 17 points in the last four games, Graham has also had some rough outings in that span, shooting 31.3, 8.3 and 35.3, in three of those games.
Akron. This is a matchup that will put the microscope on Graham and Reddic. The Zips have one clear advantage: with seven players who are 6-foot-5 or taller, Reddic is going to have his hands full inside, making it imperative that the Rams take advantage of the Akron’s loss of Alex Abreu, who was arrested on drug charges. In three games without him, the Zips have committed nine, 17 and 14 turnovers – and still one. If Graham can own the matchup with Abreu’s replacement, Carmelo Betancourt, the Rams could feast on those miscues.
Smart and Akron’s Keith Dambrot coached together on the Zips staff from 2003-06, one year as assistants and two more with Smart on Dambrot’s staff after he was given the head coaching job. This will be the third time they’ve met, with the Rams winning both of their previous matchups in 2010 and ’11.
