SAN ANTONIO — NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, take a bow.
The group that inspired lynch mobs from Boulder to Blacksburg, Va., two weeks ago is showing it’s not as dumb as the nation thought. Virginia Commonwealth, that alleged fourth-place “dog” from the Colonial Athletic Association, is one step away from the Final Four.
The 12th-seeded Rams continued their remarkable drive through the NCAA Tournament as Bradford Burgess’ gimme on an inbounds pass with seven seconds left in overtime Friday night gave VCU a 72-71 win over Florida State.
“We diagrammed a different play out of our timeout,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said. “We had our favorite out-of- bounds play because we have multiple scoring options. When they called timeout, I could see one of their assistant coaches telling their guys walking off the court that we were going to run that play.
“It was an easy decision.”
The Rams (27-11) now get the ultimate test Sunday, an Elite Eight matchup against top-seeded and second-ranked Kansas (35-2) for the Final Four berth.
Playing like two double-digit seeds that didn’t belong, 10th-seeded FSU and VCU acted like neither wanted to win. The Seminoles made 12 turnovers in the second half, including four in overtime, and VCU missed 7-of-11 free throws down the stretch.
Florida State (23-11) appeared like a winner despite shooting only 36.6 percent when Chris Singleton, coming back from a broken foot, drove the baseline and dunked for a 71-70 lead with 30 seconds left.
After an exchange of timeouts and a blocked layup out of bounds, VCU called time out with seven seconds left, having to score against the nation’s shooting defense the last two years. Taking the ball out from under FSU’s basket and Seminoles covering the paint, Burgess, who had a game-high 26 points, managed to slip inside all alone. He took point guard Joey Rodriguez’s pass for an easy layup.
FSU eschewed a timeout, and point guard Derwin Kitchen, who had a team-high 23, found an opening on the baseline. He passed to an open Singleton near the free-throw line, but 6-2 guard Rob Brandenberg blocked the shot, setting off a wild celebration.
VCU picked apart FSU’s vaunted defense, shooting 46.2 percent, including 12-of-26 from 3-point range. However, it committed 16 turnovers and was no match for the Seminoles on the boards.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
