National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
VCU 94, Purdue 76
When: 7:10 PM ET, Sunday, March 20, 2011
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Officials: # Roger Ayers, # Brian O'Connell, # Tony Padilla
Attendance: 18146

CHICAGO - Bradford Burgess led five players in double figures with 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds Sunday and No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history with a dominating 94-76 victory over third-seeded Purdue in the Southwest Region.

Joey Rodriguez had 12 points and 10 assists and Jamie Skeen added 13 points for VCU (26-11), which shot 57.8 percent and led by as many as 20 points in the second half. The Rams advance to face the winner of Notre Dame-Florida State in the Round of 16 in San Antonio on Friday.

JaJuan Johnson had 25 points and 14 rebounds and Ryne Smith added 20 points for Purdue (26-8), which shot 45.5 percent and was denied a third straight Sweet 16 appearance. The Rams held E’Twaun Moore to just 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

VCU, which beat Georgetown by 19 on Friday, has gone from the team nobody wanted in the NCAA tournament, to the team nobody wants to face. Purdue, like Georgetown, ran into a buzzsaw early. The Rams used a 17-3 run to take a 10-point halftime lead, then opened the second half by hitting nine of their first 12 shots.
Top Game Performances
 
VCU   Purdue
Bradford Burgess 23 Scoring JaJuan Johnson 25
Joey Rodriguez 11 Assists Lewis Jackson 7
Bradford Burgess 8 Rebounds JaJuan Johnson 14
Bradford Burgess 4 Free Throws Made Lewis Jackson 4
Rob Brandenberg 1 Steals D.J. Byrd 1
Bradford Burgess 1 Blocks JaJuan Johnson 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
VCU 94 56.9 8-21 12-14 26 26 2 4
Purdue 76 44.8 8-25 8-11 20 31 6 3