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. 5^th.

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.

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.

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.

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 6^th 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.

Game 15: VCU 81, Hofstra 68

Damaged Pride

@ Hampstead, N.Y

Box Score

Junior forward Larry Sanders scored career-high 31 points to lead the VCU Men's Basketball team to an 81-68 win over a shorthanded Hofstra team on Tuesday evening at the Mack Sports Complex in Hampstead, N.Y.

Sanders finished 11-of-13 from the field and 9-of-12 from the fre ethrow line, while grabbing five boards and blocking three shots. Junior Joey Rodriguez was equally impressive scoring 21 points and handing out six assists.

Junior Ed Nixon scored all 11 of his points in the first while Kirill Pishchalnikov proved to be a force down low with 8 points and 5 rebounds off the bench for VCU.

VCU closed out the first half on a 9-0 run and holding the Pride to just a point for the last 3:47to take a 40-25 halftime lead.

Coming out of the break, Hofstra would chip away at the Ram lead and close within seven points, but Sanders and Rodriguez connected on back-to-back jumpers to push the lead back to 13 with 6:08 left in the game.

The Rams closed out the game going 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to hold on for the 13-point win.

With the win, VCU improves to 11-4 overall and levels its record at 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Hofstra, which dressed only seven scholarship players due to injuries falls to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in the CAA.

The Rams are now within a half game of William and Mary and the CAA lead.

Preseason All-CAA pick Charles Jenkins led the Pride in scoring with 23 points. He shot just 7-of-18 from the field and turned the ball over seven times.

Cornelius Vines finished with 17 points and three assists, while Miklos Szabo was the third Pride player in double-figures with 12 points.

The Rams will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to ATL to take on Georgia State. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Game 14: VCU 77, Delaware 64

Back on Track

@The Siegel

Box Score

Brandon Rozzell scored a career-high 19 points and Virginia Commonwealth snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating Delaware 77-64 on Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart Siegel Center.

The Rams were without leading scorer and rebounder Larry Sanders, who sat on the bench serving a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul in Wednesday's game against Drexel.

The Rams built a 14-point first-half lead. But the Blue Hens scored on 11 of their final 15 possessions to cut the margin to 41-38 at halftime.

After shooting 52 percent in the first half, Delaware made only two of its first 15 shots in the second, allowing VCU to open a 59-44 lead with less then 10 minutes to go.

Delaware could get no closer than 10 points of the lead.

With the victory the Rams averted their first three-game CAA losing streak since the 2000-01 season. Delaware has now lost 14th consecutive conference road games.

The Blue Hens have never won at VCU.

Junior Brandon Rozzell led the way for the Rams with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. He also added three steals and three assists in the contest.

With the absence of Sanders in the middle junior Jamie Skeen and sophomore Bradford Burgess stepped up and posted double-doubles. Burgess finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Skeen added season-highs of 11 points and 10 boards.

Juwan Carter led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while also handing out four assists. Alphonso Dawson and Jamelle Hagins each had nine points for Delaware. 



The Rams improved to 10-4 overall and 2-3 in the CAA while Delaware drops to 5-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

The Rams return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to New York to take on the Pride of Hofstra University. The game will be televised on ESPNU at 7 p.m.

Who's Got Next: Delawhere?

VCU (9-4, 1-3) looks to avoid its third consecutive CAA loss when they take on the Blue Hens of Delaware (5-10, 1-3) Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart Siegel Center.

The Rams will be without the services of junior Larry Sanders, who was suspended for Saturday’s contest for a flagrant foul in Wednesday night’s loss at Drexel.

Sanders, the Rams' leading scorer and rebounder, is tied for eighth in the CAA in scoring (14.7 ppg), fourth in rebounds (8.1) and second in blocked shots (3.2).

VCU head coach Shaka Smart will look to Bradford Burgess to continue his high level of play with the absence of Sanders. The sophomore scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed eight boards at Drexel Monday.

Delaware enters the game at VCU riding a 13-game losing streak in CAA road games. The Blue Hens last win came against Georgia State on Feb. 13, 2008.

The Hens are led by guard Alphonso Dawson who averaged 19.0 points and 10.5 rebounds as Delaware won back-to-back games for the first time this season last week . The junior tallied team-highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds in an 82-72 over-time win against Lafayette and had a team-best 15 points and seven boards as the Hens edged rival Drexel 62-58. He had 19 points and eight boards in a loss to W&M on Wednesday.

VCU leads the all-time series with Delaware, 12-3, and is a perfect 7-0 at the Siegel Center against the Blue Hens.