Men’s hoops stumbles against Villanova, ODU
Twice last week, the VCU men’s basketball team was reminded that wins are hard to come by away from the Siegel Center.
Peter Mason
Contributing Writer
Twice last week, the VCU men’s basketball team was reminded that wins are hard to come by away from the Siegel Center.
The Rams loss to in-state rival Old Dominion University on Saturday, Nov. 29 days after suffering their first loss of the season to 12th-ranked Villanova University in the Progressive Legends Classic. The Ram are now 4-2 on the season entering the month of December.
Senior guard/forward Treveon Graham tying a career-high in points with 34 would not be enough to defeat the Monarchs. Graham would score 22 of his 34 points in the final eight minutes and 30 seconds of the contest. The Rams fell behind early in the game, entering halftime with a 14-point deficit. Although the Rams outscored the Monarchs 49-41 in the second, bringing the game within five points, free-throws in the closing minutes made by ODU sealed VCU’s fate.
“This is a reminder that we need to continue to get better in a lot of areas, particularly on the defensive end,” head coach Shaka Smart said after the game.
The game would serve as the first true road loss for VCU after falling to No. 12 Villanova at a neutral site, the Barclay Center, on Monday, Nov. 24.
The Villanova Wildcats (5-0) led by a small margin,32-30, after twenty minutes of play. The Rams and the Wildcats would trade leads throughout the first half. Tied 30-30 with 10 seconds remaining in the half, freshman guard Phil Booth managed a jump shot that gave the Wildcats a two-point lead entering the break.
After a close battle in the first half, the Wildcats dominated the second, outscoring the Rams 45-23. VCU began the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 36-32 lead, but Villanova answered with a 16-0 run to move ahead 48-36. Both runs occured in a four-minute span. The opening run for the Rams was the last lead VCU would muster as the Wildcats played a commanding second half. Villanova would win the game with a final score of 77-53, eventually going on to win the Legends Classic tournament.
Redshirt senior forward JayVaughn Pinkston led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points, and senior guard Darrun Hillard finished slightly behind with 14. For VCU, junior guard Melvin Johnson and senior guard Briante Weber were the leading scorers, each with 13 points for the Rams, combining for nearly half of VCU’s total points.
The bright spot for VCU came against the University of Oregon a day later, where the Rams defeated the Ducks 77-63.
VCU opened the match with a 12-0 lead over the Ducks in the first four minutes of the game. The Rams would lead throughout but the Ducks wouldn’t go quietly.
After trailing 12-0, the Ducks outscored the Rams 25-15 to cut the gap to 27-25 with four minutes remaining in the first half after a three pointer from freshman forward Dillon Brooks. The Rams outscored Oregon 8-2 to finish the first half however and led 35-27 at the break.
Six minutes into the second half, the Ducks outscored the Rams 11-4 to again cut the gap. The Rams held with a 39-38 lead, but a 6-0 run allowed VCU to pull away once again denying the Duck’s comeback attempt. With a little over a minute left in the game, the Rams had managed to build their lead to 10 points, 71-61. A pair of free throws from sophomore guard JeQuan Lewis and a layup by redshirt sophomore forward Mo Alie-Cox were enough to put the game out of Oregon’s reach.
Johnson led the team in points with 19, and was one of five Rams to hit double figures in the game. The win for VCU marks their fourth of the season.
The 4-2 Rams wrap up their four-game road trip against Illinois State Univesity on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
