Men’s basketball’s woes continue in loss to first place George Mason

Jim Swing
Assistant Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times Sports’ Twitter

Image and video hosting by TinyPicWhen the VCU men’s basketball team built a nine-game winning streak that spanned over the month of January, its coaches and players emphasized the team’s dependence on defense.

Transition into Tuesday night’s battle for first place against George Mason and it appears that the tides have turned as the Rams allowed five Patriots to score in double digits en route to suffering a 71-51 beating at the Siegel Center.

VCU allowed George Mason – a team that regularly shoots just under 40 percent from beyond the arc – to go 9-16 from 3-point range with the majority of the attempts coming uncontested.

“We didn’t have enough talk,” freshman guard Rob Brandenberg said of the defensive breakdown. “In those types of situations where a man might get beat or they might break a press, we didn’t talk enough so that’s the reason why they got all those open shots.”

The lack of communication began early as the Rams allowed Patriots’ reserve Vertrail Vaughns to find continuous open looks and reel off four 3-pointers in the first half.

A collapse on the defensive end that went along with a poor offensive performance in which VCU committed nine turnovers and shot just under 30 percent sent the Rams into the break trailing 34-19.

Senior forward Jamie Skeen was the lone scorer of VCU’s five starters in the first 20 minutes, which made for the Rams lowest scoring first half all season.

At the start of the second half junior Bradford Burgess hit a 3-pointer that was followed by a layup from Skeen that cut the George Mason lead to 10.

But much like last Saturday’s loss to Old Dominion, every time that it seemed as if VCU was ready to make a run, George Mason had an answer.

Cam Long drilled two consecutive 3-pointers which led to the first of two double digit runs by the Patriots in the second half which eventually buried the Rams for good.

VCU’s shooting troubles continued as the Rams shot under 40 percent for the second straight game and just the eighth time this season.

“I don’t care who you are, if the ball doesn’t go in it’s going to effect you a little bit in terms of mentally,” head coach Shaka Smart said. “But you have to grit your teeth and you’ve got to continue and stick to the game plan.”

At just under the nine minute mark of the second half, George Mason – a team that had won just two games ever at the Siegel Center – sent the Black & Gold faithful heading for the exits, a sight rarely seen at the Siegel Center.

The Patriots success in one of college basketball’s most hostile environments stemmed from a message by head coach Jim Larranaga who told his team, “It doesn’t matter who you play or where you play, it matters how you play.”

The message stood out to the senior Long and his teammates who won their 12th straight game which ranks second in the nation.

“I don’t think I’ve seen us execute a game plan as good as we did today,” Long said. “Our defense and our rebounding was tremendous – it was great.”

After falling to ODU at the Siegel Center last weekend, Tuesday night’s game spelled back-to-back losses for VCU at home, which hadn’t occurred since the 2004-2005 season.

“It’s embarrassing right now,” senior guard Joey Rodriguez said. “We’ve just got to do something about it.

Note: Junior forward Toby Veal did not participate in Tuesday night’s game against George Mason after being elbowed in the head during Monday’s practice. He has averaged 3.1 points per game in 18 outings this season.


Photo by: Kyle LaFerriere

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