Rush the Court will be providing wall-to-wall coverage of each of the NCAA Tournament from each of the 13 sites this year. Follow our NCAA Tourney specific Twitter accounts at @RTCEastregion, @RTCMWregion,@RTCSouthregion and @RTCWestregion.

Three Key Takeaways.

Mo Alie-Cox was a force to deal with. (Scott K. Brown Photography, Inc.)

1. VCU came out ready to play. The Rams hit the floor in warm-ups and you could tell they were ready to play. Oregon State, on the pother hand, were flat from pre-game warmups and that continued through most of the game. Despite a four minute window in the second half where the Beavers showed some life, VCU’s intensity dominated the game.
2. VCU dominated the inside despite a size disadvantage. Mo Alie-Cox simply took over the paint on both ends. He blocked shots, threw down dunks over Eubanks, and just out-muscled the taller Oregon State players.
3. A balanced attack. VCU effectively spread the court and played well as a team. JeQuan Lewis was consistent throughout and hit some key shots down the stretch, and Melvin Johnson was solid.

Star of the Game. Mo Alie-Cox, VCU. Alie-Cox dominated inside on both there offensive and defensive ends. He had three monster rejections and 20 points to go along with 8 rebounds, 7-of-8 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.

Quotable. “Yeah, that’s what we said coming out at halftime was we were supposed to be the team that got in the paint via pass or dribble, post-ups, and we were supposed to keep them out. And we didn’t do that very well in the first half. — Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State coach.

Sights & Sounds. The poor OSU assistant coach stood at the end of the bench all game and screamed himself hoarse shouting “hands up on defense!” The OSU team did not listen.

What’s Next? VCU will advance to play the winner of #2 Oklahoma and #15 CSU Bakersfield on Sunday. If the Rams come out with the same intensity they did against OSU, they will be a tough team to beat.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 18th, 2016 at 2:45 pm by Steven Smith and is filed under 2016 ncaa tournament, rushed reactions. Tagged: Mo Alie-Cox, oregon state, pac-12, vcu, wayne tinkle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.