Atlantic 10 Basketball: Recap of quarterfinal round of conference tournament

Looking ahead: Semifinals – Saturday, March 11th, 2023

The four double-bye teams survive and advance to Saturday’s Semifinal round; will any further upsets occur? But at this stage, is it really considered an upset?

The difference between this and other seasons is that every team will get the opportunity to reset and have the day off Friday. This is good and bad because it allows you to have that one-game-at-a-time mindset, yet good teams have to get used to playing consecutive games in March.

The Atlantic 10 conference is full of parody this season, meaning any team can win against anyone on any given night. That said, let’s preview the two Semifinal matchups ahead on Saturday.

(1) VCU vs (4) Saint Louis

The VCU Rams swept their season series with the Saint Louis Billikens this year. While the Rams were victorious in most contests, both meetings with SLU were relatively close. VCU took the first game by eight and the second by twelve.

This game features two of the best head coaches in the conference. VCU’s Mike Rhoades has carried on the success of previous head coaches Will Wade and Shaka Smart, which has consistently allowed the Rams to have postseason success. Coach Travis Ford is experienced and knows what it takes to win big at Saint Louis.

VCU is the clear-cut favorite to win this game, but we will see Saint Louis make them work for it and maybe even change that narrative come Saturday.

The Billikens will rely heavily on their star floor general Yuri Collins, who leads the nation in assists. When Collins is on the court, he makes his teammates better because of how well he can share the ball and see his options to give the Billikens the best shot. We saw this against George Mason, the junior guard had 10 of SLU’s 26 assists.

Aside from Collins, I expect Gibson Jimerson, Javon Pickett, and Terrence Hargrove Jr to have a good game. The Billikens must have multiple contributors against a dominant team in VCU.

The VCU Rams will look to their core consisting of Ace Baldwin Jr, Jalen DeLoach, Brandon Johns Jr, and Jayden Nunn. The thing that makes VCU so unique is its depth. If Baldwin Jr isn’t producing, you’ll see one or two others take over for him.

I believe VCU will win this game but don’t count the Billikens out. If they can win this game and eliminate the top seed, SLU could be dancing after Sunday.

(2) Dayton vs (3) Fordham

Can Fordham round out a historic season? Yes, there is a chance, but they will have to face their biggest test thus far against the Dayton Flyers.

The Rams took on the Flyers on January 10th at home, and it didn’t end well. Daron Holmes II exploded for 32 points on 12-for-15 shooting, and Dayton shot a combined 64.4 percent. It was just the Flyer’s offense that was on full display; however, their defense.

Holmes II had a steal and two blocks in the contest, and Koby Brea had three steals, but the most impressive part is how the team managed to slow down Darius Quisenberry. The senior guard was held to just three points on 1-of-7 shooting. This meant that Fordham needed somebody to step up, and that was Will Richardson, 13 points, and Khalid Moore, who had 10.

Looking ahead to Saturday, this meeting should be more dramatic as the stage is set and the stakes are high. Fordham will have to continue to play through the month of March with the ‘don’t sleep on us’ mentality. Coach Keith Urgo and the Rams will have to play with a chip on their shoulder and continue not to take any opponent lightly.

They know they will have the fan support in attendance, which should be a sigh of relief; the last step will have to be taking care of business on the court. That means not getting into foul trouble will be critical, as finding ways to create stops to string together a run. Look for Quisenberry,  Moore, Richardson, and Novitskyi to be the key factors in scoring.

Although Dayton has a shorter bench due to injuries, they will rely on Daron Holmes II, Toumani Camara, and Malachi Smith to step up and play significant minutes.

It’s crazy to think the Fordham Rams are just two games away from the NCAA Tournament in year one of the Keith Urgo era. This historic season will already be talked about, but if they manage to get to Sunday, this will be one of the best stories in Division I basketball.

I believe that Dayton will win this game; however, I think every Atlantic 10 fan would not be surprised if Fordham escaped with a win and advanced to Sunday.