National Basketball Association
VCU 67, Saint Louis 56
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 1, 2014
Where: Stuart C. Siegel Center, Richmond, Virginia
Officials:
# Paul Faia, # Eric Anderson, # Tony Crisp
Attendance:
7741
By SportsDirect Inc.
Virginia Commonwealth 67, No. 8 Saint Louis 56: Treveon Graham scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help the host Rams send the first-place Billikens to their second straight loss in an Atlantic 10 clash.
Briante Weber had 13 points and four of his team's 12 steals as Virginia Commonwealth (22-7, 10-4) gave its NCAA Tournament resume a big boost. Juvonte Reddic contributed 10 points and Mo Alie-Cox had six points and five blocked shots off the bench.
Jordair Jett finished with 18 points to pace Saint Louis, which saw its conference lead reduced to one game over Saint Joseph's with two to play. Austin McBroom chipped in 11 points in reserve role while leading scorer Dwayne Evans was held to a season low-tying four points on 2-of-11 shooting.
Six different Rams scored in a 14-5 surge late in the first half that put the hosts up 38-23. The lead was 43-31 before the first media timeout in the second, but Virginia Commonwealth went over five minutes without a basket and back-to-back hoops by McBroom closed the Billikens' gap to 44-37 with 11 minutes left.
Reddic hit two free throws and Rob Brandenberg made a steal and went the other way for a layup that put the Rams ahead 55-43 with just over six minutes to go. Saint Louis had a chance to get within six with under two minutes remaining but Melvin Johnson had a steal and a score for a 62-52 lead with 1:28 left, more than enough for Virginia Commonwealth to snap a three-game slide in the series.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Saint Louis can clinch at least a share of the A-10 crown with a win vs. Dayton on Wednesday or at Massachusetts on March 9. ... Johnson had nine points but missed all three of his 3-point tries, part of a 3-for-16 showing from beyond the arc for the Rams. ... Virginia Commonwealth shot just 38.7 percent but won the turnover battle by a whopping 17-6 margin.
Top Game Performances
Saint Louis |
|
VCU |
Jordair Jett 18 |
Scoring |
Treveon Graham 17 |
Mike McCall Jr. 3 |
Assists |
Rob Brandenberg 3 |
Rob Loe 9 |
Rebounds |
Treveon Graham 8 |
Austin McBroom 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Juvonte Reddic 4 |
Jordair Jett 2 |
Steals |
Briante Weber 4 |
Dwayne Evans 1 |
Blocks |
Mo Alie-Cox 5 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Saint Louis
|
56 |
42.9 |
4-13 |
10-11 |
9 |
29 |
3 |
3 |
17 |
VCU
|
67 |
38.7 |
3-16 |
16-20 |
8 |
33 |
10 |
12 |
6 |