Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The A-10 Tournament is taking place this week in Washington, DC, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from DC with a recap of the semifinal doubleheader on Saturday.
I was able to squeeze in brunch with a friend who was visiting from out of town before heading to the arena. I was also able to catch up with some of the spirit squad members for each school that I interviewed last week, all of whom were nice in person. While the fan attendance skews heavily in VCU’s favor, both team’s bands were sounding loud/proud:
However, the best music of the day was the pregame anthem…on saxophone!
Let’s tip it off:
GAME #1: LOYOLA CHICAGO-VCU
I was expecting a great coaching matchup, as Loyola’s Drew Valentine/VCU’s Ryan Odom have each won 20+ games in 2024 and 2025 and made an NCAA tourney during the past 4 years:
CBS color commentator Dan Bonner was sitting courtside to do some scouting because he will be on the mike tomorrow for the title game:
Loyola hung around for the 1st 20 minutes, which was encouraging. SR G Sheldon Edwards Jr. only made 2 shots early on, but they were both from behind the arc:
His backcourt mate Des Watson scored 20 PTS in their previous game vs. VCU (a 19-PT loss in Chicago last January) but got off to a cold start today with 2-10 FG:
VCU has the conference POY in SR G Max Shulga, and he looked every bit the part with 7 PTS (including a layup and a 3 from the top of the key)/5 REB/0 TO early on:
His backcourt mate Phillip Russell Jr. (who scored 25 PTS in that January game) was 1 of the only hot shooters with 3-4 3PM en route to a team-high 10 1st half PTS as the Rams built a 36-27 halftime lead:
In the 2nd half Loyola C Miles Rubin was a 1-man comeback. He only took 2 shots during the prior game in January, but started heating up in the paint with an alley-oop, a jumper in the lane, a sweet spin/hook, and multiple put-backs at the rim to tie the game at 49-all with under 7 minutes left:
The partisan VCU crowd was feeling a little tense toward the end of the game, as their team is just 1-4 this year when trailing with 5 minutes left. However, Shulga made a couple more layups and grabbed a couple more rebounds to finish with a double-double (14 PTS/10 REB) as VCU rammed its way into the title game with a 62-55 win.
In the postgame press conference, since nobody else was asking about the bubble, I had to be the guy to see if Coach Odom had any doubt that he had 1 of the 68 best teams in the country if they lost the title game tomorrow. Usually that question will lead to a 4-minute-long answer where the coach presents his team’s entire resume in case the selection committee is listening, but Odom went the opposite way with a 4-word-short yet honest answer: “I have no idea”
GAME #2: ST. JOSEPH’S-GEORGE MASON
I missed most of the 1st half while downing some chicken fingers/fries for the 3rd day in a row…but after watching the Patriots go on a 25-7 run to start the game thanks in large part to GMU SR G Darius Maddox (15 PTS/6-7 FG), I confess that I did not feel any regret:
Of course, as I have learned the hard way all week long, #thehawkwillnever die, and Coach Billy Lange’s team made a late run to finish strong and cut the deficit to 37-28 at halftime:
GMU SR F Jalen Haynes scored 12 PTS in the 1st half but started the 2nd half in pain on the court after hurting his right hand:
St. Joe’s SO G Xzayvier Brown helped lead a furious comeback (finishing with 26 PTS/5-12 3PM) and the Hawks cut the lead to a single point early in the 2nd half:
However, the Patriots used some sensational 3-PT shooting (9-17 3PM) to win it 74-64 and live to fight another day.
In the postgame press conference…the rest of the media asked some pretty good questions, so I left early to go watch the Big 12 tourney title game (son of a bee-sting!).
That is a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the alphabet soup title game featuring VCU vs. GMU.
