Smothering defense gives VCU 61-49 win over Hofstra
VCU (16-5) allowed just four second half field goals on Monday night, stifling Hofstra (7-14) 61-49 for its fifth straight win.
Junior Darius Theus tries to corral what would have been his third steal of the game as head coach Shaka Smart looks on from the sideline.
Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor
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VCU (16-5) allowed just four second half field goals on Monday night, stifling Hofstra (7-14) 61-49 for its fifth straight win.
The Pride, who fell to 1-8 in CAA play, trailed by just three points at halftime but mustered only 17 second half points on 4-of-20 shooting.
“Sometimes I feel like they (VCU) have seven or eight guys out there,” said Hofstra head coach Mo Cassara. “They cover so much ground and Shaka’s got them playing so hard right now, they’re just going to keep getting better and better.”
The Rams forced Hofstra into 18 turnovers and held a comfortable lead for most of the game despite having another pedestrian shooting night themselves.
“We just put our pride in defense and the offense always comes,” said Darius Theus.
Theus posted double-digit points for the third consecutive game, going for 10 points and six assists in 28 minutes. Juvonte Reddic recorded his second double-double of the season with a workmanlike 10 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes of playing time.
Troy Daniels showed why he is the leading three-point shooter in the conference, connecting on 4-of-8 threes and did not attempt a two point field goal. With 12 points, Daniels was one of four Rams in double figures, along with Theus, Reddic and Bradford Burgess.
Hofstra’s Mike Moore led all scorers with 17 points, but Burgess’ 14 was a team-high for VCU. He was just 3-of-11 from the floor, and is now 12-of-49 over his last four games, but once again he made his presence felt at the free throw line. Burgess got to the line ten times and also added eight rebounds.
“Brad is going to go on a run and it’s going to be real soon,” said Theus. “It started tonight and we will see more of that for the rest of the season.”
Throughout his shooting slump, Burgess has emphasized rebounding to help the team win. Back on Jan. 12 against James Madison, he shot at the same clip of 3-of-11 but had 12 rebounds and VCU won the game by 20 points.
“The team that has more rebounds is going to have a better chance to win the game,” said Burgess. “We’re getting better at rebounding— that’s something we’ve been working on a lot.”
VCU is in the midst of its most grueling stretch of the schedule in terms of the most games in the least amount of days. Monday night was the Rams’ third game in five days and they play again on Wednesday at Towson, the first of three consecutive road games. Reddic and Theus said that they have fun playing a lot of games in a short span, but Shaka Smart said he thought fatigue began to play a factor for both teams in the second half of Monday’s game.
“I think over the next week we’ve got a valuable opportunity to go on the road and see how good we can be away from home,” said Smart on the upcoming road tests. “…You’ve got to be more unified as a group.”