Treveon Graham added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Juvonte Reddic, Rob Brandenberg and JeQuan Lewis scored 11 apiece for Virginia Commonwealth (3-0), which forced 25 turnovers. Weber swiped five of VCU's 19 steals and Reddic and Brandenberg added four apiece.
Andre Smith scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Winthrop (2-1). James Bourne and Keon Johnson added 11 points apiece.
There were five lead changes early before the Rams opened up an eight-point lead in the first half and took a 45-41 advantage into the break. VCU reeled off an 11-2 run early in the second half to spread it out to 65-52 but had a tough time putting away the pesky Eagles.
The margin hovered around 10 for most of the second half until Melvin Johnson scored five points in a 20-second span to push it to 80-65 with 5:03 left. Winthrop got back within 84-71 on Christian Farmer's 3-pointer with 2:06 left, but VCU ended the game with eight straight points.
GAME NOTEBOOK: VCU has won 30 of its last 31 games when forcing at least 15 turnovers. … The Rams have won all three meetings with Winthrop. … VCU has led the nation in steals per game the past two seasons and has 42 through its first three games.
Winthrop | VCU | |
Andre Smith 15 | Scoring | Briante Weber 16 |
Brandon Vega 4 | Assists | Briante Weber 4 |
Andre Smith 7 | Rebounds | Treveon Graham 10 |
James Bourne 5 | Free Throws Made | Briante Weber 10 |
Larry Brown 3 | Steals | Briante Weber 5 |
Larry Brown 2 | Blocks | Rob Brandenberg 1 |