VCU routs Purdue, heads to round of 16

The question no longer is whether Virginia Commonwealth belongs. It's: Who can stop the Rams?

Bradford Burgess scored 23 points Sunday night as 11th-seeded VCU made it three victories in five days, routing third-seeded Purdue, 94-76, in Chicago to earn a trip to the Southwest Regional semifinals.

VCU -- which finished fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association during the regular season at 12-6, two games behind Hofstra -- is in the round of 16 for the first time in school history. VCU (26-11) will play Florida State Friday in San Antonio.

"A week ago, we thought we were done," said point guard Joey Rodriguez, who had 12 points, 11 assists and no turnovers in 34 minutes. "And now we're here in the Sweet 16. Anything can happen now."

Purdue coach Matt Painter agreed. "If you watched VCU a certain time in the season, you wouldn't see what you just watched out there," he said. "Then you watch them during a four- or five-game stretch and you literally think, 'They can beat any team in the country.' I made that statement -- VCU can beat any team in the country on a neutral court. And I believe that . . . I was hoping that team wouldn't show up, but that team from VCU did show up."

Jamie Skeen added 13 points for the Rams, who have ousted Southern Cal, Georgetown and Purdue in a run that began Wednesday night. "I feel like all teams are equal,'' he said. "It's not just about the conference and how big the conference is and all that other stuff. We're all just as good. It's just basketball, man. I know you have your All-Americans, like you had two All-Americans out there, but it's a team game. If you jell as a team like we did today, you can beat anybody."

"It wasn't easy. We just made plays out there,'' Rodriguez said. "You see all these guys on TV, and we're watching them all year and in our heads, we're like, 'Man, we can play with these guys.' We're getting the opportunity now and we're proving it."

In his final game for the Boilermakers (26-8), Big Ten Player of the Year JaJuan Johnson had 25 points and 14 rebounds. But Purdue's other star, E'Twaun Moore, managed only 10 points on 5-for-15 shooting. Ryne Smith had 20 for Purdue, shooting 6-for-8 on three-pointers.

"It's VCU against the world," Skeen said. "Nobody else thought we could do this. Nobody else's bracket said that we're going to make it to the Sweet 16. Honestly, if it was me and I was just a regular person, I wouldn't put VCU in the Sweet 16. Who would have thought?"

Kansas 73, Illinois 59: Twins Marcus and Markieff Morris totaled 41 points and 24 rebounds for top-seeded Kansas (34-2) in Tulsa, Okla. Consecutive slams by Markieff (24 points, 12 rebounds) made it 62-51 with 3:51 left. Mike Davis led Illinois (20-14) with 17 points. -- AP