VCU handles Virginia Union in exhibition game

Zachary Holden
Staff Writer

The VCU men’s basketball team beat cross-town rival Virginia Union University 94-44 in the season-opening exhibition at the Siegel Center Thursday night.

“It’s great to be back on the court, it’s great to be back in the Siegel Center in front of our fans,” said Coach Shaka Smart. “It’s been too long.”

The Rams came onto the court ready to play with Briante Weber, Darius Theus, Juvonte Reddic, Troy Daniels and Jarred Guest as the starters. Guest in the starting five came as a bit of a surprise for the Rams.

“I was excited [to start], I put in a lot of work in the offseason,” said Guest. “I was ready to play.”

The Rams took control of the game early on and never made any notion of even letting it get close. Theus started the scoring for VCU with a floater in the lane. Daniels then hit his first of five three-pointers, which caused the Seigel Center to erupt in cheer.

Only five minutes in, VCU was already leading 16-6 and had caused six turnovers. It was a good indication of how the night would progress. The HAVOC style was still alive and kicking harder than ever.

“We got a group of older guys who have been around, when they are playing at a very intense level, we can be a really good defensive team,” said Smart.

The level of intensity would’ve made someone think this was a tournament game rather than an exhibition.

At halftime, the Rams led the Panthers 56-17, led by Daniels who contributed 16 points after going 5-for-8 shooting. Eleven of the 12 VCU players scored in the first half with D.J. Haley being the lone man out.

The second half started and VCU came out firing, still. At one point, Daniels had 19 points, the same number the Panthers whole team had.

About five minutes into the second half, Theus, Reddic and a VUU player dove for a loose ball. VCU came away with it, but Theus came up holding his left shoulder and shortly after came out. The trainer looked at it and within three minutes he was back on the court.

“My shoulder is feeling real good, it was just a little bit of pain at first, but I got it looked at and it’s fine,” said Theus.

His injury didn’t seem to bother coach Smart too much. Later in the half Theus had the shoulder wrapped, but wound up coming back in to finish off the game.

“Basically he tweaked his shoulder and he’s going to be fine, he’ll probably be sore but I don’t anticipate it being a long term injury.” Coach Smart.

Weber brought the arena to their feet with an emphatic dunk that topped off the absolutely dominant performance by the Rams.

The game ended after the Panthers made a few meaningless late shots. The 50-point win, although just an exhibition, showed what the Rams are capable of this year.

“I’d give it a ‘pretty good’ which is about as good as you’re going to do at this time of year,” said Smart. “There’s a lot of things we need to improve on and get better at.”

Freshmen Justin Tuoyo and Melvin Johnson made their debut in the Siegel Center in good fashion. Tuoyo finished with five points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Johnson had seven points, one rebound, one block, and a steal.

“They’re great; they do what coach asks them to. Mel is a great shooter and Tuoyo is a great energy guy,” said Daniels. “I thought Tuoyo played really well tonight and I thought Mel played really well at times too, they have a great upcoming.”

One standout was Weber, who finished with eight steals – which would have been a VCU record – but since it was an exhibition it doesn’t count towards the statistics. He and the other guards on the team impressed the Panthers coach a lot.

“They have a really good guard play and the big guys understand that, thye do a great job crashing, they know and understand that the guards are the key,” said Virginia Union coach Luqman Jaaber. “They shot the ball extremely well, much better than they did last year.”

The Rams start their regular season on Nov. 9 at home against Florida Gulf Coast.