Rams Ram the Rams

Trying to recover from a 92-86 loss from last season against Rhode Island, VCU came fired up for a win last night. The question was, could they do it without the offensive threat of Eric Maynor, who led the team with 22 points last year?

December 3, 2009; 8:30 AM • by Blake Stack

At the start of the game, things were not very promising. VCU struggled to control the ball, appearing sloppy and unorganized. Rhode Island put on the defensive pressure by playing a tight, man to man full court press, frazzling the mentality of VCU. The golden rams would return the favor, putting two guards in full court press, but their effort was only marginally effective compared to that of Rhode Island. After turning the ball over six times in the first five minutes, VCU would start the game trialling 5-12. Burgess of VCU would claim those first five points, but he alone couldn’t keep up with the diverse Rhode Island offensive front of Ulmer (4), Cothran (2), and big man Martell (4).

As Rhode Island continued their aggressive man to man coverage, the depth of the VCUs team began to flex their manstuff as the next eighteen points would be shared among six different team members (T.J. Qwynn (2), Nixon (4), Sanders (6), Rozzell (5), Theus (1), Burgess (4)). Although Rodriguez remained scoreless, he played a key role in serving up the assists, two of them being alley-oop’s, bringing the crowd to complete uproar (one for Sanders, another for Burgess). Overall, this effort brought the Rams their first lead of the night, 28-27.

At half time, both teams would enter the locker room with 40 points on the board. It was one of the most aggressive halves of basketball I have ever seen and there’s a lot to be said for Rhode Island’s composure, offensive discipline, and aggressive defense. Sixteen of their 40 points came from turnovers and/or second attempts. That’s impressive. Unfortunately for them, VCU’s field goal percentage was equally as nasty — VCU maintained a smok’n 58% feild goal percentage along with a stunning 43% three point percentage during the first half.

At the start of the second half, it was a brand new game. Yet, VCU again found themselves struggling. Rhode Island came out strong, pushing the fast break for slams, jams, and layups leading the game 53-47. But Ruzzell brought the pain and set fire with a three point concoction that would bring the game within three. Wanting to break any sense of momentum, Coach Baron of Rhode Island took a 30 second time out. Unfortunately for him, it couldn’t have come at a better time for VCU. Coach Smart capitalized on the opportunity to set up a full court press. On the next play, VCU would successfully frustrate the Rhode Island guards, forcing them to turn it over on five second stall count. From there, it was all over. Sanders and Rozzell would continue wreaking havoc on Rhode Island’s man to man coverage: scoring another 7 unanswered points. The score was now 57-53. In the next three plays, Nixon would nail a three and Sanders would pick and roll with Rodriquez for an alley-opp, bringing the climax of this rampage to a shocking 15-2 run. The score was now 60-55.

13:14 remained on the clock, but the momentum was now in VCU’s favor. Sanders, Burgess, and Rozzell would carry the team offensively for the remainder of the game with Sanders (19) and Rozzell (17) both reaching season highs (the field goal percentage for the second half remained constant at an impressive 58%). Defensively, Coach Smart would bust out a 2-3 zone for the first time this season. For the last two minutes of the game, Rhode Island was completely out of their element. The lane penetration they had taken advantage of all night was now brought to a complete halt. The golden rams successfully set the tempo for the final minutes of the game, earning them a well fought 82-80 victory.