By Kenneth Cross
TAMPA – VCU guard Zeb Jackson scored 14 points as the Rams made 10 three-point field goals to hold off the South Florida Bulls, 70-65, in ending what was a historic season in the 50-year history of the Bulls’ program.
Rams guard Sean Bairstow scored 13 points and added six rebounds and four assists in joining Toibu Lawal to connect on two free throws each in the last 17 seconds.
“Zeb was huge,” noted coach Ryan Odom. “He wasn’t the only one. Made some shots early and really got going. His quickness was on display like he is a really good defender. He had one play where they were running a wide pin for Youngblood.”
Jackson nailed a pair of threes to start the second half and Chris Firman and Bairstow added two jumpers each in the first eight minutes to push the lead to 46-41 with 12:03 left in the contest.
VCU would extend it’s lead to 53-45 when Lawal made a pair of free throws with 10:08 remaining and then Louis Billups, III, nailed a triple as the Rams had the upper hand at 56-47.
Bulls guard Chris Youngblood went to work in the second half as he scored 21 of his career high 28 points in taking the game over and getting South Florida in position as he scored on a layup and made two free throws to push USF to within one point on two of three occasions.
“He can do damage on the block, trying to drive the basketball or certainly on the three,” said Odom. “He has a beautiful shot, he can really get to the free throw line, Just a really tough matchup.”
Lawal made five free throws and a layup as he and Bairstow made four combined free throws in the last 21 seconds to allow the Rams to post their 70-65 win and a date with Utah in the NIT’s version of the Elite Eight.
“It’s fun to see South Florida grow and (AD) Mike Kelly has done some awesome things here at USF, ” explained Odom, who coached on Seth Greenberg’s first staff at USF. “It’s cool for me. I haven’t been back here in a long, long time.”
Triple Trouble: Both teams’ three-point games came down to one of the determinants in what was an excellent college basketball game in March. South Florida made 37.3 percent of it’s triples for the season while VCU connected on 35.8 percent of it’s treys. On Sunday evening, the Rams connects on 10-of-26 while the Bulls struggled in making only 4-of-20.
“It’s not always a set play to get a three,” said Coach Ryan Odom. “It’s drive and kick off of penetration. The guys have been trained since day one to play at a good pace in transition. Play in pick and roll and move the ball and try to gain an advantage and when you get the advantage, try to keep it and then just try to catch the pass.”
Odom explained how passing is a key in setting up the three.
“Tonight, the first play of the second game, the quality of the pass wasn’t there,” he said. ‘We had two of those where we were getting an open shot and the ball hits the floor an then the guys hands. Then, the knee hits the floor. We need to aspire to get better with our passing. All in all, it’s really just trusting one another.”
Odom explained some of the depth of the Rams’ approach to shooting the three.
“Our guys have a relative amount of freedom,” he said. “We have sets and we have offense that we run. It’s all predicated on moving the basketball and finding the open guy and when you are open, we allow you to shoot.”
Holding the Bulls to 20 percent from three was a strong effort from the Rams.
“They are always shot ready,” Odom said. “Just like Villanova, we wanted to make sure we weren’t giving any. First half, we did. They were 1-of-11 from there and the second half not as good. They got some open, cleaner looks in the second half.”