WASHINGTON — Of all years for the Atlantic 10 Tournament to come to D.C. … honestly.
The closest school to Capital One Arena, George Washington, is the 11th seed and might be saying goodbye just as the rest of the league is saying hello. Fifth-seeded George Mason owns a losing record overall, while seventh-seeded Richmond is almost guaranteed to have its first sub-500 campaign since 2007.
Thank goodness for VCU. What’s that? The Rams drop by the District having lost six of nine, including a 24-point loss at George Washington? Rough winter …
Virginia Commonwealth University enters the A-10 tourney with a 17-14 mark — its most losses since Mack McCarthy was guiding the program in 2001.
The last time the Rams failed to win 20 was in 2005-06. Meanwhile, VCU’s 9-9 conference mark is its first nonwinning league record since 2000.
While previous debut seasons have provided major splashes (Shaka Smart’s 2010 team won the CBI while Anthony Grant’s 2007 club bounced Duke in the NCAA Tournament), former Rams assistant Mike Rhoades’ initial campaign at VCU has been more of a kerplunk.
But, the Rams boast a pair of seniors who have known nothing but success. Forward Justin Tillman and guard Jonathan Williams have played in three straight A-10 Championship Games (and VCU has played for the title every year since joining the conference in 2012-13).
Tillman led the conference with 9.7 rebounds per game and was fifth in the league in scoring (18.9). He enters the tournament on a roll with five straight double-doubles. Williams led the Atlantic 10 with 5.7 assists per game while being the catalyst defensively (11th in steals) for the Rams.
Will they get the necessary help from sophomore De’Riante Jenkins, whose 41.7 percent accuracy from three-point range ranked fourth in the league but had issues shooting and taking care of the ball in losses down the stretch?
As the No. 8 seed, the Rams face Dayton in Thursday’s Second Round. They split the regular season series with the Flyers, losing 106-79 on the road in January (they were down 66-40 at the half) while needing overtime to win 88-84 at home last month (Tillman scored 37 points, including seven of the Rams’ nine in OT).
A potential battle of bigs could emerge, as Dayton forward Josh Cunningham leads the A-10 in shooting (.646), but the 6-foot-7 junior has been held to 50 points over his last five games. Defense may prove to be the difference, as the Flyers hit 63 percent of their shots while turning the ball over just 11 times in the January win, and while hitting 44 percent from the field with 19 turnovers in the February meeting.
Can the Rams dial up a little Shaka Smart-Will Wade-Anthony Grant inspired havoc? They’ll need to flip a switch if they’re going to make a run — top seed Rhode Island awaits in the quarterfinals.
