VCU shakes off shooting woes in win over Hofstra

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
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For six straight games cold shooting ran rampant throughout the VCU men’s basketball team like that of a nasty virus.

It began with a treacherous 27 percent shooting night against Georgia State thanks much in part to Rob Brandenberg and Bradford Burgess combining to go 1-for-25 from the floor. And from there it didn’t get much better. The Rams went on to shoot a cumulative average of just over 36 percent the following five games. They seemingly couldn’t hit water firing from a boat and stellar defense could only mask horrible shooting to a certain extent.

Cue a couple late nights in the gym mixed in with shots before, during and after practice and the streak is over after VCU shot just under 43 percent in a 61-49 win over Hofstra Monday night. The Rams exhibited their best shooting performance since the first game of their two-game season series with the Pride on Jan. 2.

“It feels real good, like we always say, defense runs our offense and we just put our pride into defense and the offense will always come,” point guard Darius Theus said. “We got great perimeter guys and great big men so we don’t worry too much about offense but it feels good to make shots.”

Defense has – and will continue to be – the Rams’ main calling card, but with an arsenal of proven shooters they certainly haven’t turned a blind eye to creating a powerful offense.

Perhaps the player most tortured by the bad-shooting bug was VCU’s senior leader in Bradford Burgess, who went 17-for-72 over the six game stretch. Burgess – who has one of the purest strokes on the Rams’ young squad – struggled mightily to regain his touch and it’s possible he still hasn’t. The Richmond native put up 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting, but scored half of his points from the free throw line, which he got to at free will. Just like any savvy veteran, Burgess doesn’t let personal or overall team shooting woes shake him. He says it’s a work in progress.

“Everyday during practice, before practice, after practice, guys are getting shots up,” “We’ll have better shooting nights in the future I know, but we just got to keep working on it.”

Darius Theus and Juvonte Reddic shot a combined 8-of-11, but no one was more zoned in than sharpshooter Troy Daniels. The junior guard didn’t even bother stepping inside the three-point line, shooting an eye-popping 4-of-8 from deep. Daniels averages 2.5 3-pointers per game, which ranks second in the CAA behind James Madison’s Humpty Hitchens.

“Troy is kind of settling in and getting some outside shots and he’s leading the league in three-point shooting, which we appreciate,” VCU head coach Shaka Smart said. “He can certainly continue to make even more.”

There’s no hiding behind the fact that the Rams’ 39.9 percent field goal percentage ranks 313th nationally and 11th in the CAA ahead of only Towson. It’s hard to say whether the Rams’ shooting woes are entirely cured, but Monday night certainly helped.