BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Atlantic 10 Champion VCU Rams will be a 12 seed in the NCAA and will face No. 5 St. Mary’s in Albany, N.Y. Friday at 2:00 pm ET in the NCAA First Round.
 
The Rams, which were also the A-10 regular season champions, are 27-7 overall and beat No. 2 Dayton 68-56 in Sunday’s A-10 Championship game. VCU is led by Atlantic 10 Player of the year and Defensive Player of the Year Ace Baldwin, Jr. (12.7 points, 5.8 assist per game) and Jamir Watkins (9.6 points, 5.4 rebounds per game), both of whom earned All-Championship honors Sunday. Brandon Johns, Jr. averages 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds and Jalen DeLoach has a 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds per game average.
 
This will mark VCU’s eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last 10 years and are 13-17 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
 
St. Mary’s was the West Coast Conference Co-Champions and are ranked 16^th in both the AP and Coaches Polls. The Gaels were 26-7 overall and tied WCC Tournament Champion Gonzaga with a 14-2 league mark. SMC is led by WCC Defensive Player of the Year Logan Johnson with 14.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and Aidan Mahaney’s 14.5 points per game. This will be the second all-time meeting between the Gaels and Rams, both in the NCAA Tournament. St. Mary's topped VCU 85-77 in the 2017 NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. Led by 22^nd-year Head Coach Randy Bennett, the Gaels are ranked 16^th in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.