The Ohio State Buckeyes and VCU Rams are playing on the NCAA tournament second round schedule for the west region on Thursday and the matchup at 4:40 pm ET is on TNT and the game is being played from the Moda Center in Portland as Virginia Commonwealth tries to hold things heading into the next round against D'Angelo Russell.
Ohio State comes into the game after losing in the conference tournament to Michigan State and they are a 10th seed in the west. The Rams come in as a seven seed and they are the favorites against PSU and this could be one of the better matchups of the day. Iowa State already lost to UAB and this could be a tight game until the end.
VCU has been a Cinderella before and now they come in as a team that many expect to play well each time they come out. Ohio State comes in after going 23-10 this season and they are ranked 24th in the nation in scoring and in the top 15 in field goal percentage shooting the ball. The defense has been up and down this season and they come in after losing two of their final three games of the year.
VCU comes in after winning over Dayton and they took the Atlantic 10 and they have some expectations coming into the tournament. The team is averaging 72 points per game this season and they went 26-9 and they have not lost since March 5. The team has won five games in a row coming into the tournament and they could be the darlings once again if they make a run.
Russell is having a strong season and he is averaging 19 points to lead all freshman this year. Russell has added five rebounds and five assists and he will be the toughest player to deal with. VCU comes in after struggling down the stretch, as they lost six of 11 games finishing the season and they hope to get things going in the right direction.
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