Joe Dzuback is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic 10. He’s covering the Atlantic 10 tournament in Brooklyn this week. You can also find his musings online at Villanova by the Numbers or on Twitter @vtbnblog.

Virginia Commonwealth eliminated a gutty Saint Joseph’s squad, 82-79. After holding double-digit leads for much of the second half, the Rams withstood an uncharacteristically furious press and scoring blitz from the Hawks. Meanwhile, Chaz Williams led Massachusetts to a 79-74 upset of Temple to close out the quarterfinal round. The two teams, playing within a six-point margin for the entire 40 minutes, evoked memories of the John Calipari vs. John Chaney matches of a decade ago. Without the vitriol.

Four Thoughts After Session Two:

1. Quarterfinal results may have an impact on the NCAA field: La Salle’s loss appears by consensus to put the Explorers in the dreaded Last Four In category, a disappointment for coach John Giannini who promised to “go nuts” watching all of the bubble team games this weekend. Turns out he did not have to leave the Barclays Center to catch one of those bubble games, as Massachusetts eliminated Temple, 79-74, for the second consecutive time in the quarterfinal nightcap. The upset put the Minutemen in Jerry Palm’s play-in list with a #12 seed, slated to play opposite Villanova on Tuesday. If Palm’s scenario holds, the conference will pull an unprecedented six dance cards, as many as the Big 12 and more than the ACC, the Pac-12 and the SEC.
   

   Spike Lee (with phone) made his way south from Madison Square Garden to catch some A-10 action Friday evening. (Staff photo)

2. Spike Lee loves him some Shaka Smart: The five boroughs’ second most famous film director (and most famous basketball fan) abandoned his courtside digs in Manhattan (Madison Square Garden) to catch the Virginia Commonwealth-Saint Joseph’s quarterfinal (see photo – in the green windbreaker) in Jay-Z’s digs in Brooklyn. Unable to get a courtside seat, the filmmaker had first rows just behind the scorer’s table. Maybe he will be back for the semifinals this afternoon. Maybe Jay can score him something courtside for that one. Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe this was overlooked amidst the relentless barrage of close games and buzzer-beaters yesterday, but West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler had a little fun with the Twitter at the expense of conference rival Georgetown’s shocking loss to Ohio University, 97-83.

Spike Lee, of course, was at last week’s Big East Championship game wearing a Georgetown jersey.  He claims that he’s been a Hoya fan since the Ewing era, and maybe he has, but it’s still plenty interesting for a New York guy through and through to be seen rooting for a team from the District instead.  Much like you, we just watched that Reggie Miller vs. Spike Lee thing on ESPN’s Thirty at Thirty this week, so maybe Butler is auditioning for the new role of Spike’s nemesis?

As for Da’Smack, we’re not sure that making fun of a first round loser is the greatest idea one day before playing your own opening game (and especially the way the Big East has looked so far), but hey, we’re not the guy with seven hundred and forty-one game-winners this season either.  If he can back it up…