The 2011–12 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

during the

2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011, with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012, at the Mer ...

. It was the 44th season of the University fielding a men's basketball program. Led by third-year head coach

Shaka Smart Shaka Dingani Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American men's college basketball coach and former college basketball player. He is the current head men's basketball coach at Marquette University. Smart rose to prominence in 2011 after leading Vi ...

, the Rams were coming off a season marked by a run to the Final Four. Expected to finish lower in the CAA regular season standings, the Rams finished as regular season runners-up with a 15–3 conference record, before winning the 2012 CAA Men's Basketball Championship against Drexel, 59–56, earning their 11th ever berth into the NCAA Tournament. It was also the first season since 1984–85 that the Rams consecutively qualified for the NCAA Tournament. During the NCAA Tournament, the Rams were the only CAA representative in the tournament and earned a 12-seed. The Rams upset Wichita State in the second round, before losing to Indiana in the Third Round.

Preseason

VCU was predicted to finish third in the

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

preseason polls, which was released October 18, 2011 in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. Senior guard/forward Bradford Burgess was selected to the preseason

first team.

2011–12 incoming team members

2011–12 team recruits

Roster

Offseason

Accolades

Honors and awards

Senior guard/forward Bradford Burgess was named to the first team

. Sophomore forward Juvonte Reddic and junior guard Darius Theus were named to the third team

. Theus was also named to the

all defensive team.

Records

Regular season

Prior to the start of the regular season, the men's basketball team played two preseason exhibitions. On November 3, the Rams defeated Cal U. Vulcans 71–48. Treveon Graham of the Rams led the team in scoring with 16 points. The regular season began with the Rams hosting the

Saint Francis Red Flash The Saint Francis Red Flash are the 22 sports teams representing Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania in intercollegiate athletics. The Red Flash competes in the NCAA Division I and are primary members of the Northeast Conference, wi ...

on November 11. In a close affair, the Rams earned a 63–57 victory over the Red Flash to open up the season. Despite the opening victory, the Rams lost their second two games of the season, both at neutral venues during the

Charleston Classic The Charleston Classic is a three-day invitational college basketball season-opening tournament held in Charleston, South Carolina. An ESPN-owned and operated event, it is contested at TD Arena, home of the Charleston Cougars. Each team plays th ...

, losing to

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. Against Tech, the Rams held an eight-point lead at halftime, before relinquishing the lead in the second half. Bradford Burgess led the Rams in scoring, with 17 points. Their final game of the Classic ended in a five-point victory over

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU), located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, competing in the ...

. On November 23, the Rams played the Hilltoppers again, this time in an intra-conference early season game, and still picked up a victory. Burgess once again led the Rams in scoring, with 16 points. On November 27, 2011, the Rams traveled south to take on the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

, their first nationally ranked opponent of the season. The Crimson Tide, who were NIT finalists the previous season, had gone off to a 6–0 start to the season, and were ranked thirteenth in the nation at the time of tip-off. The Crimson Tide were also coached by former Rams head coach Anthony Grant, who led the Rams to three NCAA Tournaments during his tenure. While the game was closely contested, the Tide pulled away late on to earn a 72–64 victory. Burgess led the Rams in scoring with 18 points. At the time, the 64 points scored by the Rams was the most points the Crimson Tide had allowed all season long. From late November until early January, the Rams went on an eight-game winning streak, including victories over their intercity rivals, the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider ...

and

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. The Rams began

conference play on December 17, 2011, by hosting the

UNC Wilmington Seahawks The UNC Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks are the varsity athletic teams representing the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Wilmington, North Carolina in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors eight teams for the men (baseball, bas ...

. Despite having a 2–6 regular season record at the time, the Seahawks were on a two-game winning streak. The Rams, also on a two-game win-streak were able to dominate the majority of the game, earning an 87–64 victory of the Seahawks. Once again, Burgess led the Rams in scoring, tallying 22 points. Juvonte Reddic of the Rams led the team in rebounds, totaling nine off the glass. Darius Theus led the Rams with both assists and steals, accumulating eight assists and seven steals. Following their conference opener against UNC Wilmington, the Rams played three more non-conference games to close out 2011. At their December 20 home game, the Rams posted a 68–49 victory over the

UAB Blazers The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of the American Athletic Conference and participates in Divisi ...

. Following the victory over the Blazers, the Rams travelled to games at UNC Greensboro and

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

, winning each affair. The December 29 victory at Akron was the Rams' first overtime game and victory of the season. To open 2012, the Rams traveled up north to take conference foe, Hofstra. The January 2 game resulted in a 17-point victory for the Rams, making it, at the time, the largest road victory for VCU of the season. Two days later, the Rams hosted

Georgia State Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the second large ...

, and suffered their first home loss of the season, falling 53–55 against the Panthers. The game was also the Rams' first defeat in CAA play. Their follow-up game at Drexel also resulted in a narrow defeat, as the Rams fell to the Dragons, 58–64. For the next month, from January 11 – February 12, the Rams went on an eleven-game winning streak, improving their overall record to 22–5 and their conference record to 13–2. The record earned the Rams three votes in the AP Coaches' Poll, making them unofficially ranked 36th in the nation amongst Division I schools. Their winning streak came to end on February 14, when the Rams traveled north to take on their I-95 rivals,

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

. The closely-knit affair saw the Rams lose 61–62 on a last-second three-pointer by George Mason's Sherrod Wight. Following the one-point loss to George Mason, the Rams played their final non-conference game of the regular season against

Northern Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the ESPN BracketBusters series. Held at the Siegel Center, the Rams earned a 77–68 victory over the Panthers, giving the Rams a final non-conference regular-season record of 10–3. The Rams finished their conference schedule at home against George Mason. Following the narrow loss to George Mason in Fairfax, VCU beat George Mason 89-77 to end conference play at 15-3.

Postseason

Finishing as the regular season runners-up, the Rams earned a direct bye to the quarterfinals of the 2012 CAA men's basketball tournament, where they earned the second seed in the tournament. Their conference tournament run began on March 3, 2012, when the Rams took on the Northeastern Huskies at the

Richmond Coliseum Richmond Coliseum is a defunct arena located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, with a capacity of 13,500 that was most often used for various large concerts. The arena opened in 1971 and the region is looking to replace the aging facility with a la ...

in downtown

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. The Rams won 75–65 and advanced to the semifinals against Mason. In the semifinals, the Rams took a 22-point lead against Mason, leading 22–0 before Mason successfully scored their first basket. Winning, again by a ten-point margin, 74–64, the Rams reached their second-consecutive CAA Championship, and their seventh in the past eleven years. In the CAA Championship, VCU took on Drexel, whom they lost to during the regular season. After leading by as many as sixteen in the second half, the Rams would weather a Drexel comeback, winning their fifth CAA tournament, 59–56. On March 11, 2012, the Rams were announced by the NCAA Selection Committee as a #12 seed in the Southern Region, taking on

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 ...

in the second round of the

2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2011-12 ...

. Wichita State, finished the season ranked #15 in the nation and won the previous year's

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

. Played in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

at the

Rose Garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped ...

, the Rams took a 62–59 victory over Wichita State, sending them into the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rams led by as many as 13 points in the game. As the season comes to a close, VCU was defeated in a heart breaker by Indiana in the third round of the NCAA tournament after Hoosiers came back from 6 down with 4 minutes to win 63-61 as VCU's three-point attempt bounced off the inside of the rim at the buzzer. The Ram's season finished with a 29-7 record.

Schedule

Source , - !colspan=12, Preseason Exhibitions , - !colspan=12, Regular season , - , - , - !colspan=9, 2012 CAA men's basketball tournament , - , - , - !colspan=9, 2012 NCAA tournament , -

Statistics

Source
ESPN.com
br>Last updated: February 18, 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 VCU Rams men's basketball team VCU VCU Rams men's basketball seasons VCU

VCU Rams The VCU Rams are the college athletics, athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atl ...