GAME NOTES: The Virginia Commonwealth Rams will try to stay hot tonight when they hit the road for a non-conference tilt with the UNC Greensboro Spartans.
VCU is coming off a 68-49 rout over UAB on Tuesday night. Despite an almost completely revamped roster from last season's Final Four squad, the Rams have won five in a row and seven of their last eight overall. During the current five-game win streak, they have won by an average margin of more than 20 points per contest.
UNCG has veered in the opposite direction, as the team enters this tilt hoping to avoid an eighth straight loss. Most recently, the Spartans were dealt a 90-63 setback at fifth-ranked Duke on Monday night. They'll be happy to return home as they are 0-8 so far outside of Greensboro.
VCU beat the Spartans 101-86 in the 2010-11 season opener, which was the only previous meeting between these two teams.
The Rams rode a strong defensive effort to Tuesday's lopsided win over UAB, as they held the Blazers to 15-of-43 shooting (.349) for the night. They also forced 23 turnovers, scoring 30 points off those miscues. Once again, underclassmen led the way for the Rams, which has been a trend so far for this young but very promising squad. Freshman Treveon Graham came off the bench to tally a team-high 18 points and six rebounds in just 23 minutes, while sophomore Juvonte Reddic scored 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor.
On the season, Bradford Burgess, the only senior member on the roster and one of the key contributors to last year's Final Four team, is averaging 14.3 points per game and is shooting 40 percent from the perimeter (26-of-65). Junior guard Troy Daniels is next in line with 10.5 ppg, followed by sophomore Rob Brandenberg with 10.0 ppg. Reddic paces the squad with 6.4 rebounds per contest, while junior guard Darius Theus leads the Colonial Athletic Association with 4.9 assists per tilt.
Former head coach Mike Dement stepped down from his post at UNC Greensboro a week ago following a 2-8 start. In his place, assistant coach and former North Carolina sharpshooter Wes Miller has taken over on an interim basis for the rest of the season, becoming the youngest coach in Division I at age 28. Although he is 0-2 so far as the head man, Miller saw his team lead No. 5 Duke -- a team Miller became very familiar with during his playing days -- for much of the first half before the Blue Devils went on a 29-8 run to put the game away.
The Spartans shot just 34.5 percent from the floor in the second half en route to their seventh straight loss. Kyle Randall scored 12 points, while Derrell Armstrong added 11 and Aaron Brackett finished with 10 for UNCG. Leading scorer Trevis Simpson (15.0 ppg) finished with just four points on 1-of-10 shooting. The Spartans obviously need more from their top scorer if they are to resurrect their season, as Simpson is averaging nearly twice as many points as Armstrong, the team's second-leading scorer.
VCU head coach Shaka Smart has his team playing at a high level despite quite a bit of roster turnover from last year, thus solidifying the Rams' status as one of the top mid-major programs in the nation. Look for them to make it six wins in a row with another balanced effort tonight.
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