Brandenberg blossoms for VCU in win over William & Mary

Jim Swing
Assistant Sports Editor

When senior guard Brandon Rozzell broke his hand in practice Tuesday, VCU men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart submitted a short message to his remaining guards, “step up. No excuses.”

Freshman Rob Brandenberg didn’t take light of the memo, reeling off a career-high 22 points, 19 of which came in the second half, to lead the Rams to a 70-52 conference win over William & Mary.

Brandenberg’s breakout performance comes as the best by a freshman since Domonic Jones in 2000, however he took a broader view.

“It feels good,” Brandenberg said. “But I’m just happy that we got the ‘W.’ Another road win, that’s the second in a row, and now we’re 4-1 in the conference so it’s just a win and that’s the main thing there so I am happy.”

The Rams were able to force 11 turnovers by the Tribe in the first half, to go up by as much as 14 and take a 29-20 lead heading into the break.

After a dominating defensive performance by VCU in the first half, William & Mary found a way to penetrate the Rams’ defense at the start of the second half, taking control of a 10-4 run ignited by forward Marcus Kitts that cut the lead to three, 33-30.

That’s when Brandenberg caught fire.

The first-year sensation posted eight-straight points to give the Rams a 47-34 lead.

Although appearing to “step up” in place of the injured Rozzell, Brandenberg said his preparation heading into Wednesday’s game was the same as any other matchup.

“I had the same mindset I had coming into any other game,” Brandenberg said. “It was just to make sure I play great defense, bring a lot of energy and play with a lot of enthusiasm and tonight my teammates just found me and I was able to knock down a few shots.”

Brandenberg’s 19 second half points combined with a stellar defensive performance by the Rams that forced 19 Tribe turnovers would be enough to stamp the fourth Colonial Athletic Association victory for VCU.

“I was proud of the way our guys played tonight,” Smart said. “I thought for the third game in a row it was a terrific defensive effort for 40 minutes and that really made the difference for us.”

Rams’ leading scorer Jamie Skeen was not to be overlooked however, recording his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds while also providing a gateway to success on the perimeter due to pressure underneath.

“He [Skeen] was phenomenal, we were really trying to play through him which is different,” Smart said. “ I thought we were really able to score, get into a very good flow in the second half by playing through Jamie [Skeen].”

After a 1-4 start on the road, VCU has now won two-straight away games to improve to 3-4 away from the Siegel Center.

“Our guys’ energy, our talk, before the game and shoot-around, there’s been an added level of resolve and belief out there led by our seniors, but really all of our guys.” Smart said. “We came in here feeling like ‘hey we can win this game, this is what we got to do’ and then our guys went out there and executed the plan, that’s how you win.”