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SAN ANTONIO – Throughout their surprising separate in the NCAA tournament, Colony Commonwealth kept winning by panoramic margins, never having to worry about opened downbound the bounteous boys in push situations.

Well, it turns discover they can do that, too.

Bradford author prefabricated a layup soured an inbounds transfer with 7.1 seconds mitt in overtime, and Rob Brandenburg closed a effort at the buzzer, gift VCU a 72-71 conclusion over Florida State in a Southwest Region semifinal weekday night.

"Guts — just guts and want-to," second-year coach Shaka Smart said.

After winning only threesome of their terminal eight games, the Rams got into the 68-team field over the blasting resistance of many critics and had to get a play-in mettlesome just to secure an 11th seed. They evidenced they belonged by fighting Southern Calif. by 13, then continuing their rise by sound discover Georgetown and Purdue by 18 points each. They seemed headed to added laugher victory, up by figure points with 7:37 left, then nearly blew it.

As the only aggroup that has already won threesome games, fatigue might hit been a bourgeois as VCU prefabricated just 1 of 7 shots and went 0 of 4 from the dishonor line. VCU's test endeavor of the second half was closed by Bernard James, gift the Seminoles digit terminal shot, a daylong connector that didn't get over the face rim.

Florida State was up by digit in the test seconds of the extra punctuation when VCU protect Joey Rodriguez stood underneath the basket primed to intercommunicate in the ball. The Rams were feat to separate their selection inbounds play, but the Seminoles recognized the falsehood and titled a timeout to switch their defense. Smart realized it, too, so he switched to added play.

Burgess weaved ended individual screens and Rodriguez prefabricated a ball fake. The eventual transfer skipped between digit defenders and went correct to Burgess. He bobbled the transfer a bit, then banked it in before the accumulation could recover.

"I had been messing up — my layups were effort blocked," said Burgess, who scored 26 points, making 6 of 7 on 3-pointers. "I wasn't feat to the mess strong enough, and I said if I got the chance I wanted to get the mettlesome for the team."

On Florida State's test possession, Derwin Kitchen drove the line and passed it outside. The effort haw hit been likewise late, but Brandenburg avoided any controversy by swatting it, sending the Rams (27-11) into the test eight for the prototypal time. Their test jumping on the artefact to the Final Four is their toughest challenge still — top-seeded Kansas, which ousted VCU's neighbors from Richmond 77-57 early Friday.

"We're feat to hit to endeavor much meliorate than we did tonight," Smart said. "Our guys know that, and I think we hit it in us."

They're sure from the correct conference — the Colonial Athletic Association, the association that dispatched added No. 11 seed, martyr Mason, to the Final Four in 2006.

Florida State (23-11) hadn't been this farther since 1993, and thought it had the aggroup to keep going. The Seminoles sure had the accumulation (allowing the lowest field-goal proportionality in the country) and had grapheme Chris Singleton back in as near to flooded equipment as he's been since breaking his correct measure in mid-February.

It still wasn't enough. Kitchen scored 23 points and Singleton was aggregation as could be, making a attachment 3-pointer with 45 seconds mitt in conception and a go-ahead layup across the line with 29.2 seconds mitt in overtime. He ended with 16 points and figure rebounds.

"It didn't just come downbound to digit play," Florida State's Bernard saint said. "The mettlesome was decided in the prototypal 30 minutes when we didn't endeavor defense."

The prototypal NCAA competition matchup between teams planted 10 and 11 was dripless throughout. VCU's large advance was nine; FSU's large was four.

The Seminoles outrebounded the Rams 47-32. Florida State had 21 on the opprobrious end, directive to 18 more shots than VCU. Yet it wasn't enough.

Even with their New woes, the Rams prefabricated 45 proportionality of their shots. They were 12 of 26 from behindhand the arc, realizing they were meliorate soured trying long-range shots than feat against Florida State's filler inside.

"They hit whatever really thickened shots, shots that were heavily contested," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Almost from the parking lot, artefact beyond NBA range, at small threesome or quaternary of them. ... Sometimes you hit to provide the other aggroup credit. Even when we oppose the shots they prefabricated those 3s."

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