“It just shows the depth of our league,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said Friday. “Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. It’s not four out of seven. It’s just one game. The team that plays the best is going to win, and that’s what happened. I don’t call them upsets. That’s conference tournament play.”
The four semifinalists play Saturday. Duquesne plays St. Bonaventure (20-12) at 3:30 p.m. No. 9 seed Saint Joseph’s (21-12) plays No. 5 seed VCU (21-12) at 1 p.m.
VCU seeks to become the first back-to-back tournament champion since Temple won three straight from 2008-10. Saint Joseph’s seeks its first title since 2016. St. Bonaventure last won the championship in 2021. Duquesne won the first tournament, when the league was known as the Eastern 8, in 1977 and hasn’t won since.
“This league’s been really good all year,” VCU coach Ryan Odom said. “I’ll say it one more time, it hasn’t gotten the credit that it’s deserved nationally. There have been so many close games throughout the conference season — and then, obviously, you’ve seen it here. Double OTs and overtimes and just really stellar play and stellar coaching from all the coaches. Really competitive event here. And no one’s safe. Doesn’t matter what your record is or your ranking coming in. You can be beaten — and certainly that’s been the case in our tournament here.”
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