Sunday, January 31, 2010

Game 20: VCU 72, GSU 68

White Out
@The Siegel

VCU (15-5, 7-4) celebrated Homecoming Saturday night by dropped Georgia State (9-14, 3-8), 72-68, in a Colonial Athletic Association game at the Siegel Center in snowy Richmond, Va.

Junior Joey Rodriguez led the way for the Rams with 22 points, nine assists and four rebounds.

Georgia State led early, holding an 18-14 advantage with nine minutes to go in the first half before VCU scored seven straight to take a 21-18 lead.

The diehard crowd who braved the snow would see VCU take a 45-32 halftime lead into the locker room against a team that it has beaten 12 consecutive times since Georgia State joined the CAA.

The Panther defense came of the break energized holding the Rams to just nine points in the first 12 ½ minutes of the second half and forcing 15 second-half turnovers.

VCU had just two turnovers in the first half.

With a 13-point lead reduced to five with 5:30 left, Ed Nixon made a driving layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play. With Georgia State down seven with under 2 minutes remaining, Nixon again came to the rescue hitting a long 3-pointer to closeout the game for VCU.

Nixon was one of five Rams in double figures. Joey Rodriguez had 22 points, Larry Sanders 13 points and 13 rebounds, Brandon Rozzell 12 points, and freshman Darius Theus a career-high 10, all in the first half. Rodriguez, who went into the game eighth in the country with an average of 6.1 assists per game, had nine assists and three turnovers. He was 12 of 13 from the foul line as VCU hit 30 of 35 foul shots.

Sanders tallied his sixth double-double of the year and third straight

Joe Dukes led the Panthers with 17 points on 6-of-20 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Dukes was held to just 1-of-11 shooting in the final 20 minutes.

With the win, the Black & Gold move into fifth place in the CAA standings with seven conference games remaining. In order to claim one of the first-round byes in the CAA tournament the Rams need to be in the top four regular-season finishers.

VCU will try to continue its climb from Wednesday when they travel to the Trask Coliseum for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Seahawks of UNC Wilmington.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Snowmageddon: VCU vs. Georgia State

Weather permitting, the Rams (6-4, 14-5) will take their 10-1 home mark into tonight’s homecoming game against Georgia State (3-7, 9-13), at 8 p.m. at Verizon Wireless Arena at the Siegel Center.

VCU is coming off a 112-53 thrashing of Towson and now sits at 14-5 overall, 6-4 in the CAA. The Rams will be looking for their 12th straight victory over the Panthers after defeating Georgia State, 82-69, two weeks ago in Atlanta.

Joey Rodriguez scored 21-points for VCU, which shot 61 percent from the field. He was 8 of 12 from the field and had seven assists, three rebounds and just two turnovers.

Jamie Skeen added 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting and Bradford Burgess added 14 points, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, and Easy Ed Nixon hit three treys off the bench.

Larry Sanders, hampered by a foot injury, contributed 8 points and 11 boards.



The Panthers feature 5 transfers from BCS schools headlined by the backcourt tandem of Joe Dukes and Trae Goldston.

Dukes, a 6-1 senior from Cuthbert, Ga., is a preseason selection to the All-CAA second team after earning third-team honors a year ago. The dynamic guard averages 13.5 points per game, along with 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He ranks 12th in the CAA in scoring as well as fourth in steals, 14th in assists, 14th in field goal percentage (.423) and 20th in rebounding.

Goldstean averages 11.4 ppg (19th CAA), including 2.0 treys per game (sixth CAA) and a 41-percent accuracy rate from long range (fifth CAA). He has moved into second place in GSU history with 182 career three-pointers.

Georgia State has never beaten VCU since joining the CAA.

VCU is currently in the midst of a 14 game win streak on Homecoming. The Rams have not lost a homecoming game dating back to the 1994-95 season.

The Black & Gold are also 1-0 when a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect this season. The Rams defeated Tulane 78-77 on December 19. Granted the game was played in New Orleans, there was a foot of snow blanketing Richmond.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Game 19: Rams 115, Towson 53

Heat Check!
@The Siegel

The Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball team absolutely dismantled the Tigers of Towson University (4-16, 1-9 CAA) 112-53 Wednesday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

The Rams (14-5, 6-4 CAA) set school records for most points scored in the 10-year history of the Siegel Center and most three-pointers in a single game, tying a single-game CAA record with 20 threes and fourth-most assists in a game with 30.

The 115-point outburst was the most points scored by the Rams since the 1978-79 season.

Sophomore Bradford Burgess led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in just 22 minutes of action. Junior Larry Sanders registered his sixth double-double of the season in the first half and finished with 17 points and 14 boards in 19 minutes and junior Joey Rodriguez came up three assists shy of a single-game record with 13, 10 of those coming in the first-half.

The Rams connected on its first seven field goals and jumped out to a 21-9 lead with 15:53 showing on the first-half clock. VCU went into halftime with a commanding 23-point lead. Sanders had combined for 27 points.

VCU opened the second half on a 24-6 run while Towson missed nine of its first 10 shots. Freshman Jay Gavin continued the onslaught from behind the arc going a perfect 4-of-4 in second half finishing with 14 points, while senior T.J. Gwynn added 11 points off the bench. Junior Brandon Rozzell continued his hot shooting at the Siegel going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc for 16 points.

The Ram defense stifled Towson holding the Tigers to 8-of-27 shooting in the second half and just 21 points as the Black & Gold cruised to a 59 point victory.

Josh Thornton and Jarrel Smith led Towson with 12 points, while Isaiah Philmore added 11 points and five rebounds for the Tigers.

Homecoming week continues Saturday with an 8 p.m. showdown with Panthers of Georgia State.

Who’s Got Next: Towson

VCU (13-5 overall, 5-4 CAA) looks to right the ship tonight when they take on the Tigers of Towson (4-15 overall, 1-8 CAA) at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

The Rams are 15-1 against Towson since the Tigers joined the league in the 2001-02 season. VCU is averaging 79.1 points per game against the Tigers who are averaging just 62.6 points per game in the series.

Towson has dropped 10 of its last 11 games, the lone victory coming against the team with which it shares last place in the CAA, Delaware.

Junior Robert Nwankwo has been one of the few bright spots for the Tigers. He leads the CAA in rebounding, blocked shots, field goal percentage and is the only player in the league averaging a double-double with 10.4 points per game and 10.3 rebounds a game. Senior guard Josh Thornton is averaging 12.1 points per game and has made 51 three-pointers. The Tigers have not had a winning season under sixth-year Coach Pat Kennedy, who has averaged 19 losses per season.

The Rams are coming off a tough week in the CAA having rolled past William & Mary 81-59 Wednesday, then having a four-game win streak snapped at Northeastern Saturday. Junior Larry Sanders averaged 20.0 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game for the week, including his fifth double-double of the year at NU. Sanders ranks among the top five in the CAA in scoring, rebounding, FG percentage and blocked shots.

Junior Joey Rodriguez posted his first career double-double against W&M with 18 points, 10 assists and just one turnover. Rodriguez, who tops the CAA in assists with 5.7 apg and steals at 2.1 spg, is averaging 17.3 ppg over his last four games.

The Rams are 9-1 this season at the Siegel Center. Tip-off is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Game 18: VCU 62, NU 74

Northeastern Owns VCU
@ Matthews Arena, Boston
Box Score

The Huskies tied the third-longest winning streak in school history with a 74-62 victory over Virginia Commonwealth at Matthews Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies controlled a 35-31 halftime lead and extended it to 49-41 on an Ojougboh jumper with 12:53 to go, VCU rallied to pull within 53-50 on a putback by Sanders with 9:38 left but Chaison Allen answered for the Huskies, knocking down a 3-pointer that sparked a decisive 11-2 run.

NU (13-7, 8-1 Colonial Athletic Association) remained in a first-place tie with George Mason in the league standings, getting double-digit production from four of its starters.

Nkem Ojougboh led the Huskies with 18 points. He also had seven rebounds. Junior guard Chaisson Allen had 16 points to go with six boards, while senior Matt Janning had 15 points and eight boards and Manny Adako contributing 12 points.

Larry Sanders lead the way for the Rams with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Six of his rebounds came at the offensive end, and the Rams led the Huskies 15-4 in offensive rebounds, but they could not convert those extra chances into meaningful points.

Northeastern shot 58.5 percent (24-for-41) from the field and held Virginia Commonwealth's to just 37.9 percent (22-for-58).

Sophmore Jamie Skeen was just 2 of 8 from field with 6 points and junior Joey Rodriguez was 3 of 13 from the field with 9 points.

Northeastern has won 11 consecutive games overall, the third longest active streak in the country. With a 62-57 victory three weeks ago, the Huskies became the first team to sweep VCU in the regular season since 2005-06.

The Rams have dropped three straight to Northeastern and there bid for a fourth consecutive regular-season CAA title has most likely ended.

At the halfway point of the CAA schedule, VCU (5-4, 13-5) is three games behind Northeastern (8-1, 13-7), and fell to sixth in the league behind Drexel.

The Rams will have to refocus and look to finish in the top four so they can get a first-round bye in the CAA tournament.

The Rams the next game will be at home against the Tigers of Towson University on Wednesday evening for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Who's Got Next: Northeastern Round 2

The Rams (13-4 overall, 5-3 in CAA) travel to Boston to take on the Huskies of Northeastern (12-7 overall, 7-1 in CAA), holders of the third-longest active winning streak in the nation, Saturday in a critical CAA contest at Matthews Arena at 2 p.m.

The Huskies have won 10 straight games for the first time since 1987. At 7-1 in the CAA, NU needs a win to keep its share of first place in the league with Old Dominion and George Mason.

This is the 10th all-time meeting between these two teams, and the Rams lead the series 5-4, but the Huskies have won two straight. In their last meeting NU knocked off the Rams 62-57 on their home floor for the second consecutive season. NU is the only team to beat VCU at the Siegel Center in its last 25 games.

In eight conference games this season, the Huskies are shooting 39.3 percent (46-for-117) from three-point range, leading the league in that category. NU is also tops in the CAA in field goal percentage, ranking first at 45.8 percent.

Chaisson Allen is shooting 55.0 percent (22-for-40) from behind the arc in CAA contests. He hit 4-of-6 treys and scored a team-high 16 points in win at Towson on Wednesday, which was his 10th double-figure effort in the last 11 games.

NU is allowing a league-low 53.2 ppg in CAA play and hasn’t given up more than 61 points in a conference contest.

Since NU’s last meeting with VCU, the Rams have gone 4-1, the lone loss coming at Drexel. The Rams have taken down Delaware, Hofstra, Georgia State and William & Mary by an average of 15 points, including a 22-point drubbing of the Tribe just three days ago. The Rams are averaging over 80 points per game (80.2 ppg) during the streak and are connecting on 50.2% from the field. Defensively, VCU is holding opponents to 65.0 ppg, while forcing 15 turnovers a game.

Since the Christmas Break Joey Rodriguez averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 assists and is shooting 48.3% from the field. Even more impressive is the fact that his assist-to-turnover ratio is nearly 4-to-1 (3.7-to-1, 52 assists,14 turnovers). The junior tops the CAA in assists with 5.8 apg and steals at 2.2 spg.

Junior Larry Sanders has been equally impressive for the Black & Gold, averaging 19 points and eight rebounds in the three games since his suspension for a flagrant foul against Drexel. He is shooting an impressive 76.7% (23-30) from the field over that three game span.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Game 17: VCU 81, William & Larry 59

Retribution: VCU Dominates William and Mary in Rematch
@the Seigel
Box Score

Joey Rodriguez scored 18 points and dished out 10 assists as the Rams ended William & Mary’s school-record seven-game road winning streak in an 81-59 drubbing Wednesday night in front of a sold out Verizon Wireless Arena.

The Tribe entered the game winners of 14 of their last 15 and off to a program-best 6-1 in CAA play. They were also looking for their first regular-season win at VCU since the 1999-00 season. But VCU's full-court press and man-to-man defense caused problems for William & Mary shooters most of the night as the Rams avenged a December defeat in Williamsburg.

The Rams jumped out to a 15-4 lead early behind six points from big man Larry Sanders, before the Tribe worked their way back into the game. The Tribe’s Danny Sumner hit a three-pointer with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half to send VCU into the locker room with a 31-26 advantage.

William & Mary came out of the half inspired quickly cutting the VCU lead to 33-31 on a Sumner fast break dunk forcing a the Rams into a timeout.

The Black & Gold came out of the time out and got a three-point play from Jamie Skeen and a 3-pointer from Brandon Rozzell to push the VCU lead back to eight.

The lead reached 15 behind a trio of Terrance Saintil buckets culminating in a steal and one-handed slam by the sophomore.

“I really thought Terrance was a difference maker tonight,” VCU head coach Shaka Smart said after the game. “He had three huge steals and caused a lot of problems for them at the top of the key defensively.”

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Bradford Burgess and Ed Nixon, sandwiched in between a Burgess block of a David Schneider layup, put the Rams up 57-38 with 9:35 to play and brought the crowd at the Siegel Center to its feet.

VCU closed out the game going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the 22-point victory.

"We talked about having an urgency to close out on them, because they have five guys that can shoot," said VCU guard Joey Rodriguez

William and Mary, leading the Colonial Athletic Association with a 38.8 shooting percentage from 3-point range and second in the league with 74.4 points per game, shot just 7-of-27 from long range.

William & Mary’s Danny Sumner led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Markus Kitts added16 points and 11 rebounds for the Tribe.

Larry Sanders finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Rozzell added 15 points for the Rams.

VCU, winners of four straight, improves to 13-4 overall and 5-3 in CAA play while William & Mary falls to 14-4 on the season and 6-2 in the conference.

The Rams travel to Boston Saturday to take on Northeastern. The Huskies beat the Rams 62-57 at the Siegel Center on Jan. 4. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

VCU-W&M Live Blog!

Wow, I have been racking my brain all day and I have come up with nothing. When was the last time VCU played a “relevant” regular season game against William & Larry?

Go ahead, take a second I can wait…

That’s what I thought. I don’t think we have ever had one. But, with four one loss teams atop the CAA looking to distance themselves from the pack tonight’s game against the Tribe has become a must win for VCU. At 4-3 the Rams are sitting in 5th place behind Mason, W&L, ODU and Northeastern and looking at the wrong side of a first round bye in the CAA Tournament.

Now, enter one of the hottest teams in college basketball, William and Larry winners of 14 of their last 15 games and a program-best 6-1 in CAA play. They own key wins over Richmond, Wake Forrest and Maryland this season and are currently tied with Vermont for longest road winning streak in the country.

But not everything is stacked up against the Rams. The Black & Gold are 9-1 all-time against the Tribe at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

In their last meeting the Rams saw the Tribe erase a 15 point second half lead with unstoppable back-door cuts and clutch 3-point shooting. The Rams had a last second three-pointer fall short from Ed Nixon giving the Tribe of William & Mary a 75-74 victory.

William & Mary ranks fifth nationally in 3-pointers per game (9.5). The Tribe also ranks among the top 10 in the nation in fewest turnovers at 10.5 tpg and assist/turnover ratio at 1.5. The Rams will need to control the pace of the game and force W&M out of their comfort zone.

Stay tuned for live action!

85 min before tip: Rams are taking in a relaxed shooting session. W&M's bus just pulled in and the Tribe is filing in from the parking lot. That has got to affect them.

70 min before tip: mascot at sporting events for nearly 15 years? Well, hat is about to change. William and Larry is in the midst of a mascot search. They will still be know has the Tribe but here are the 5 mascot finalists…

The mythical griffin, a King and Queen, another mythical beast the phoenix and a native bird species found in Virginia the wren. But I have saved the best for last! A pug! Apparently, Queen Larry and King William were both the proud owners of pugs.

Here is ESPN’s take on the whole thing.

68 min to tip: VCU assistants have broken out huge body pads to simulate contact in the post. VCU looks dialed in. I think we are going to dominate tonight!

62 min to tip: TJ, Larry and David Hinton are sporting all white Jordan 10's.

55 min to tip: I want to give a quick shout out to my main man Marc Cheatham. He wont be able to make the game tonight because he is D.C. attending to the needs of his boss former Virginia Governor and current DNC Chairman Tim Kaine.

Today was his first day on the job. Hopefully, things will settle down for the Dems in the next couple of weeks and Marc will be able to keep that new whip.

If not, we need to go pro in racquetball. I am telling you, we will dominate the league. American Family Fitness wont know what hit them!

49 mins to tip: The Tribe are out for their pre-game warm-ups. The student section is mostly full. This is going to be a good one.

43 mins to tip: W&M's David Schneider reminds me of a smaller Travis Deiner. Marquette legend!

32 mins to tip: Student sections are full and the band is doing their thing. William & Larry are still going through their pre-game warm-ups. Interesting, they don't practice lay-ups. Just mid-range jumpers and threes.

Then again they are the CAA equivalent of the Indiana Pacers. There I said it.

24 mins to tip: The Rams come out for their final warm-ups.

19 mins to tip: The Tribe prance out onto the court to a choirs of boos.

9 mins to tip: The National Anthem was just completed and now we are just waiting for the teams to return to the court for introductions.

1:30 mins to tip: This sellout crowd is bringing the volume. They are all over the Tribe as they make their final preparations.

Its standing room only in the student section. The VCU chant is drowning out the arena announcer.

Here we go. W&M controls the tip.

18:40 The Tribe draw first blood and a McDowell put back. VCU counters with a Rozzell jumper to tit it up. VCU 2 - WM 2.

16:00 Both teams are fighting for every possession. Rozzell just nailed a three to give the Rams a 9-4 advantage.

15:00 Larry Sanders Dunk!!! The crowd is on its feet has Tony Shaver is forced to take the Tribe's first timeout. VCU 11 - W&M 4.

14:30 Another Larry Sanders Dunk!!!! The crowd continues to go crazy. VCU 13 - W&M 4.

13:15 That's three Larry Sanders buckets in a row. He is a man on fire tonight! VCU 15 - W&M 6.

12:18 Luke Walton, I mean David Schneider is on the board with a jumper for the Tribe. J-Rod answers with his first bucket a jumper just inside the three point line. Another TV Timeout. VCU 17 - W&M 11.

10:26 Darius Theus is getting early minutes for the Rams. Easy Ed Nixon delivers a three from the wing. VCU 20 – W&M 13.

9:45 Darius Theus hits a running jumper to extend the VCU lead to 9. VCU 22 – W&M 13.

8:05 VCU head coach Shaka Smart is going to his freshmen early in this game. Troy Daniels is seeing some early action relieving Darius Theus.

7:00 The pace is furious. Shaka Smart is going deep in his bench to try and wear out the Tribe. So far W&M have shown they can hang. VCU 23 – W&M 20.

6:09 Another jumper for J-Rod. Pushes the VCU lead to 5, 25-20.

5:30 TJ Gwynn gets an easy lay-up. No word yet if he is out of the dog house yet. VCU 27 – W&M 20.

4:00 Larry Sander’s is showing his range. The big man just drained a 17 foot from the side line. He has 9 points. VCU 29 – W&M 20.

2:53 John Stockton, I mean David Schneider hits another three to cut the VCU lead to 6. Schneider has 8.

1:36 J-Rod is trying to slow it down and pound it inside. Neither team is close to the bonus at this point. VCU has 5 teams fouls and W&M has 4. VCU 29 – W&M 23.

0:45 J-Rod gets inside for a layup. He has 6 points and VCU is up 31-23.

0:23 Danny Sumner hits a three and VCU takes a 5 point lead into the locker room at the half.

VCU 31 – W&M 26

Half Time Stats: The Tribe's Danny Sumner leads all scorers with 12. Danny Ainge, I mean David Schneider has 8 for William & Larry. Larry Sanders is the high man for VCU with 9 points on 4 of 6 shooting to go with his 5 boards. Joey is filling up the stat sheet with 6 points, 5 assists and 2 steals.

W&M shot 31.4%. VCU shot 48.3%.

19:35 Bobby Hurley, I mean David Schneider is fouled while shooting by Rozzell. He hits 1 of 2 from the line and with that W&M opens up scoring in the second half. VCU 31 – W&M 27.

18:42 Larry Sanders answers with an awkward turn around jumper from the key. The Tribe answer with a Kitts dunks. VCU 22 – W&M 29.

17:19 Sumner gets an open dunk and Shaka Smart motions for a quick timeout. The Tribe have come out motivated and have quickly erased the VCU half time advantage. VCU 33 – W&M 31.

17:07 Skeen gets a bucket and is fouled. He hits the free throw and puts VCU back up by 5. Shaka Smart is looking like a genius out of the timeout.

16:19 Brandon Rozzell knocks down a three pointer to a deafening applause. VCU 39 – W&M 31.

15:43 Skeen is fouled in the act of shooting. He hits both free throws to extend the Ram’s lead to 10.

15:27 Skeen swipes and inbounds and gets to Joey for an easy lay up. The crowd noise is incredible. The Tribe quiet the crowd with a three. VCU 43 – W&M 34.

14:04 Rozzell gets a steal and another lay-up. He has 10 points and gives a fist pumped under the basket to celebrate.

12:37 Santil tips in a Thrus miss to give the Rams a 47-34 advantage. Timeout William & Larry.

11:31 TJ Gwynn feeds Santil underneath the basket for another easy bucket.

11:05 Santil pokes the ball away from a W&M guard and gets a fast break dunk. He is a one man wrecking crew. VCU 51-38.

10:02 Bradford Burgess nails a three out of the TV timeout and gets a block on Bobby Hurley, I mean David Schneider. Easy Ed Nixon hits a three pointer on the ensuing break. VCU 57 – W&M 28.

8:54 VCU is dictating the pace of the game. W&M is on the verge of falling to far behind. Larry Sanders gets another inside bucket. The Rams are up 16.

7:50 Steve Wojciechowski, I mean David Schneider drives the baseline and his fouled as the ball falls threw the cylinder for 2. Wojo hits the free throw VCU 59, W&M 46. Schneider has 15.

7:17 J-Rod hits a three. The Tribe try to answer with a Sumner long distance try which rims out to Joey who takes it down the court and is fouled has he goes to the rim. He hits 1 of 2 from the line. VCU 63 – W&M 47.

6:17 Larry Sanders continues to impress with his made range jumper. He now has 15 and the Rams lead is 15.

5:39 Shaka Smart continues to send wave after wave of fresh bodies to the court. Its starting to ware on the Tribe who have stuck to an 8 man rotation most of the night.

4:40 Easy Ed misses on a three has the VCU possession expires but freshman Darius Theus gets the rebound to extend the possession. Rozzell cans a wide-open three for the Rams. VCU 70 – W&M 52.

3:21 Marcus Kitts is carrying the load for the Tribe. The big man has scored on William & Larry’s last three possessions. He has 16 points.

3:05 Jeff Hornicek, I mean David Schneider is clearly frustrated trying to keep up with Ed Nixon who is dribbling all over the court. The frustrated Tribe star hacks Larry has he goes up for a shot. Sanders hits 1 of 2. VCU 71 – W&M 54.

2:42 The sounds of keys jingling is starting to circle the arena. The Tribe hit a quick three and go into a full court press. J-Rod cuts through the press and dribbles it down until he is fouled with 2 seconds on the shot clock. He hits both freebies. VCU is now up 15, 73-57.

1:49 Rozzell hits 2 more from the line as chants of Overrated echo throughout the Seigel. VCU 75 - W&M 59.

1:18 J-Rod hits Larry Sanders on an ally-oop to punctuate.

1:03 Scott Skiles, I mean David Schneider takes down Bradford Burgess hard and says a few choice words that got Burgess’s attention. Schneider fouls out. Burgess hits both free throws. VCU 79 – W&M 59.

30.5 Two more free throws for Joey to cap a 18 point night for the junior.

The Stadium is sounding off to the Florida State/Atlanta Braves chop chant as VCU dribbles out the clock. VCU has now won 4 in a row in the CAA and improves to 13-4 overall and 5-3 in CAA play.

Final: VCU 81 – W&M 59.

Who's Got Next: William & Larry

VCU (12-4, 4-3 CAA) looks to exact some revenge tonight against William & Mary (14-3 overall, 6-1 CAA) who pulled out a one-point win in Williamsburg on Dec. 5th.

After dropping two straight to Northeastern and Drexel, the Rams have won three in a row to improve to 4-3 in the CAA. Last week, the Rams picked up a pair of road victories, downing Hofstra and Georgia State after a home win over Delaware on Jan. 9. Prior to that, VCU fell to Northeastern at home and dropped a road tilt at Drexel.

Junior Larry Sanders scored a career-high 31 at Hofstra and leads the Rams in scoring at 15.3 points per game, while adding 8.1 rebounds and three blocked shots per contest.

But it has been the surprising play of Joey Rodriguez that has the Rams clicking on all cylinders. The junior guard ranks second on the team in scoring at 10.9 points per game after back-to-back 21-point performances. The reigning CAA Player of the Week leads the conference in assists, 5.6, and steals per game, 2.2, as well as assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.3.

As a team, the Black & Gold are the top scoring team in the CAA averaging 80.0 ppg, while holding their opponents to just 67.0 ppg. VCU also leads the CAA in steals per game at 8.6, while ranking second in 3-pointers made per contest at 6.9.

The Tribe are winners of 14 of their last 15 games and improved to a program-best 6-1 in CAA play after defeating JMU (85-78) and Hofstra (73- 66) last week. W&M’s overall mark is the best since 1948-49.

The Tribe also own key wins over Richmond, Wake Forrest and Maryland this season.

William & Larry success hinges on their ability to control the ball and limited turnover. The Tribe ranks among the top 10 in the nation in fewest turnovers at 10.5 tpg and assist/turnover ratio at 1.5. Over the last 10 games, W&M has only turned the ball over an average of 9.2 per contest.

The Tribe leads the CAA in FG 45.9%, FT 72.5% and 3-point percentage 38.8%.

W&M are equally good on the road and are currently riding a school-record seven-game road winning streak, which is also currently the longest in the country tied with Vermont.

In their last meeting A last second three-pointer by junior Ed Nixon fell short for the Rams who lost to the Tribe of William & Mary, 75-74, in the CAA opener.

Nixon posted a second straight career-high with 18 points. Larry Sanders added his third consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

William & Mary has only won once inside the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel, that coming in the first year of the building’s existence.

Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Monday, January 18, 2010

VCU’s Rodriguez is CAA’s Player of the Week

Virginia Commonwealth guard Joey Rodriguez was named CAA Player of the Week.

The 5-10 junior averaged 21 points and 6.5 assistsin a pair of road wins for the Black & Gold.

In an 81-68 victory over Hofstra on Tuesday Rodriguez went 6-for-13 from the field for a season-high 21 points. He also added six assists, two steals and two rebounds in the win.

Saturday at Georgia State, where he led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. This time he added seven assists and three rebounds.

J-Rod averaged a 3.25 assist-to-turnover ratio for the week, committing just four turnovers in both games.

He is the third Ram to earn the weekly honor behind senior T.J. Gwynn and junior Larry Sanders.

Rodriguez and the Rams will return to action against the first-place Tribe of William & Mary at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center Wednesday evening. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.


Sunday, January 17, 2010

Game 16: VCU 82, Georgia State 69

Heat Check
@the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA
Box Score

Hot shooting and stingy defense propelled Virginia Commonwealth to a 82-69 win over Georgia State on Saturday night.

The Rams (12-4, 4-3 CAA) shot a blistering 69 percent from the field, including 5-for-8 from three-point range to close the first half with a 15-4 run to take a 46-38 lead. After VCU pushed the lead to 12 early in the second half, Georgia State (8-11, 2-5 CAA) rallied in the second half to make it a one-point game with 9:49 to play

VCU responded with a 13-2 run to put the game out of reach for the Panthers. Bradford Burgess had five points and Jamie Skeen added four during the spurt.

Joey Rodriguez registered his second striaght 21-point effort. He was 8 of 12 from the field and had seven assists, three rebounds and just two turnovers.

Jamie Skeen added 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting and Bradford Burgess added 14 points, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, and Easy Ed Nixon hit three treys off the bench.

Larry Sanders, hampered by a foot injury, contributed 8 points and 11 boards.

Trae Goldston led the way for the Panthers with 19 points. Georgia State has lost all 11 meetings with the Rams since joining the CAA in 2005-06.

The Rams will return to the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center against the first-place Tribe of William & Mary Wednesday evening. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Who's Got Next: Georgia State

VCU (11-4, 3-3 CAA) hits the floor against CAA rival Georgia State (8-10, 2-4 CAA) Saturday at 6 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA.

After a 1-3 start to conference play, the Rams reeled off two straight wins to pull even at 3-3 in league play. A nice balance on both sides of the ball has helped the Black & Gold, holding its two opponents to just 66.0 ppg, while scoring 79.0 ppg.

However, the road has not been kind for VCU the couple of seasons. The Rams have struggled to a 11-12 record in away contests. In contrast, VCU is almost untouchable at home posting a 21-2 over the same two year period.

The Rams are 3-3 on the road this year.

VCU holds a 16-4 advantage in the head-to-head series against Georgia State. Since the time that GSU joined the CAA, the Rams have never lost to them, going a perfect 10-0, including three wins in 2008-09.

With six seniors on the roster, Georgia State head coach Rod Barnes leads his most experienced team of his three-year tenure. The Panthers feature 5 transfers from BCS schools headlined by the backcourt tandem of Joe Dukes and Trae Goldston.

Dukes is a preseason selection to the All-Colonial Athletic Association second team after earning third-team honors a year ago. The 6-1 guard averages 13.6 points per game, along with 5.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He is currently 10th in the CAA and fourth in steals.

The Panther’s sharp shooting Goldston averages 11.6 ppg including 2.1 three pointers per game which currently ranks 6th in the CAA. The senior guard has struggled of late being held to just eight points over the last three games after averaging 20.8 ppg for the previous four. Goldston was the recipient of the CAA Player of the Week honors on Dec. 28.

VCU is the only CAA school that Georgia State has not beaten in its brief history in the league. The Panthers' last win over VCU was a 99-80 decision on Dec. 22, 1998 at the GSU Sports Arena.