Rare scuffle takes place at the Siegel Center between VCU and JMU

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
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Tussles, altercations, scraps, skirmishes, whichever you prefer to call them, are rare around these parts. The last time the Stuart C. Siegel Center saw anything remotely close to an altercation came a little before this time last year when peppy Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint had to be restrained by one of his assistants before attempting to go after a referee.

But in VCU’s 65-45 win over James Madison Thursday night, a sold-out crowd of 7,617 got a small dose of hostile physicality when Dukes forward Andrey Semenov locked his arm around Rams guard Troy Daniels’ neck going after a rebound.

“I don’t think it was an altercation but Andrey Semenov does get frustrated and I’ve had that conversation with him,” JMU coach Matt Brady said. “I think he fouled the VCU player and the VCU player probably retaliated, I know I would.”

Daniels – a soft-spoken marksman – responded by lightly shoving Semenov and screaming “Get off me man,” as VCU players came to his rescue.

“I think he kind of flailed his arms, I didn’t really press it, I saw what happened,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said. “Troy was kind of in a tough spot because the kid had his arms around him and he was just trying to get out of it but he did kind of push off and flail his arms so that’s why they called the double-T.”

Each player was received a technical foul and that would be the end of it, but not before freshman Briante Weber got in on the situation. The 6-foot-3, 160-pound guard – known for his prolific energy – entered a crowd of players clapping his hands as if he were ready to dance with somebody. He found 5-foot-9, 175-pound JMU guard Humpty Hitchens and had a few nose-to-nose words with him before being separated by officials.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, I’m looking forward to looking at the tape,” Smart said. “When stuff like that happens Bri has a way of being in the mix, he’s a scrappy dude, he’s also a freshman who’s young and can be hotheaded at times.”

Smart – in his third year as head coach of VCU – grabbed Weber by the scruff of his neck and gave him a swift tongue-lashing before play resumed.

“That’s not a good thing because you know what can happen next so I just yelled at Bri ‘Bri I love you very much and we need you in this game and we can’t have you losing your head,’” Smart said jokingly. “That’s paraphrasing.”