The CAA’s greatest rivalry was on display last night in the 13th-consecutive Siegel Center sellout, and behind the crowd, a chaotic black-and-gold defense, and a hot second-half shooting touch from junior Troy Daniels, VCU delighted fans to the tune of a 61-48 defensive dominance of the Old Dominion Monarchs.

The sold out “gold out” witnessed the havoc wreaking style Ram fans have become accustomed to watching, as Old Dominion turned the ball over 25 times, resulting in 26 points for the Rams.

Troy Daniels provided a much needed offensive spark in the effort, leading VCU with 16 points and hitting three big shots from long ranged over a three minutes second-half span, extending the Rams lead to 14 with just under 11 minutes to play.

VCU held ODU without a field goal for a 14-minute stretch, dooming any chance of a Monarch upset in Richmond.

Junior point guard Darius Theus had yet another big game following his heroics just two days prior against William and Mary. The Portsmouth native was VCU’s only other double-digit scorer, posting his second-straight double-digit game with 15 points for the Rams.

The win moves the Rams to 15-5 on the season, 6-2 in CAA play. The Monarchs drop to 11-9 but remain in the CAA’s top four, also 6-2 in conference.

VCU will have a day to rest, watch playoff football, and prepare for a 7PM Monday night home rematch against the Pride of Hofstra. VCU defeated the Pride 80-63 in their last meeting.

Via VCUAthletics.com

RICHMOND, Va. – The hottest college basketball rivalry in the Commonwealth of Virginia heats up again this weekend as VCU will do battle once again with the Monarchs of ODU.

This weekend’s battle will be at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The game has been sold out for weeks and has now been declared a “GOLD OUT.”

Members of Ram Nation are asked to get decked out in anything and everything gold from their undergarments to their hair color.

It is expected to be the 13th consecutive sellout at the Siegel Center, the sixth longest active sellout streak in the country.

Tip time is set for 8 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Heavy traffic is expected around the arena, so fans should arrive early to root on the Rams.

And remember WEAR YOUR GOLD!

VCU (13-5, 4-2) picked up two wins this past week, but it wasn’t enough to stop them from falling a spot in the latest CAA Bloggers Poll.

The Dragons of Drexel University (12-5, 4-2) hopped VCU after adding an impressive home win over last week’s and current No.1, the George Mason Patriots (13-5, 5-1), bumping them up to third place. Drexel picked up four first place votes in the process.

Mason leads a tight race for the top spot, retaining five of their previous first-place votes from the previous week.

The Huskies of Northeastern (8-8, 4-2) were the biggest gainers behind Drexel, rising two spots to sixth after winning their third straight conference contest.

1. George Mason (5)

2. Georgia State (2)

2. Drexel (4)

4. VCU

5. Old Dominion

6. Northeastern

7. UNCW

8. Delaware

9. JMU

10. Hofstra

11. William & Mary

12. Towson

(first place votes in bold)

The voting panel is made up of CAA die-hard bloggers from around the league. This week’s list includes Michael Litos of CAAHoops.com and author of “Cinderella: Inside the Rise of Mid-Major College Basketball”, Brian Mull of Wilmington’s Star News Online, Ryan Kish of GMUHoops.com, Rob Russell of William & Mary’s Gheorghe: The Blog, Ben Moore of PantherTalk.com, Joseph Suhoski  of ODU blog VBR Productions,  Mike Brodsky who provides freelance coverage of Northeastern, Matthew Schlissel of TowsonTigers.com, Rob Abbott of JMUSportsBlog.com, Jerry Beach of the Hofstra blog Defiantly Dutch and Mat Shelton of VCURamNation.com.

VCU picked up a big conference road win today, downing the Blue Hens of Delaware (7-9, 3-3) 68-55 in a defensive struggle in Newark.

The Rams clamped down on the CAA’s 4th-highest scoring offense right out of the gate, allowing no Delaware baskets for the first nine minutes of the game. VCU would need an impressive defensive effort however, hitting just 28% of their field goals during the first half of play.

After heading into halftime with a seven-point lead, the Rams saw Delaware get as close as four points with 15:50 to play, but steadily pulled away from the Blue Hens, getting a pair of big three-point shots from senior Bradford Burgess, and nine second-half points from the hot-handed Treveon Graham.

Burgess lead all scorers on the night, getting seven of his 18 points from from the free throw stripe, and adding seven rebounds in the win.

Sophomore Juvonte Reddic was the only other Ram to see double-digit scoring, posting 11 points to go with a team high 9 rebounds.

The Rams won the rebound battle 46-44, despite the CAA’s top rebounder, Jamelle Hagins, grabbing 14 boards for the Monte Ross coached squad.

Fellow sophomore Rob Brandenberg had struggled shooting coming into this contest, but posted 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting. He added three rebounds and an assist for the Rams.

Brandenberg and the Ram guards made life miserable for the CAA’s second leading scorer, Devon Saddler, for most of the night. The reigning CAA freshman player of the year came into the contest averaging 19.1 points per game, but was held to just 10 on 3-of-19 shooting for the Blue Hens.

The win was a much needed road W for the Rams against yet another squad who started the day 3-2 in CAA play.

VCU moves to 13-5 overall, 4-2 in conference, and gained a crucial CAA tie-break against a Delaware team they were scheduled to face just once this season.

The Rams return to Richmond this Thursday to take on William & Mary (4-14, 2-4) in a late 8PM tip in what is the start of a three-game home stand for the black-and-gold.

The Rams (12-5, 3-2) got a much needed bounce back win tonight, defeating JMU (8-8, 1-4) in front of a CAA record 11th-consecutive sell out crowd, 65-45.

In their best defensive effort since November, VCU held the Dukes to just two points in the final 7:59, turning a six-point lead into a 20-point blowout.

In what is becoming a major theme of the season, VCU’s bench came up big, outscoring the Dukes 32-3 in the night, including a game-high 18 points from freshman Treveon Graham in just 23 minutes of play.

Graham provided a much needed spark for a black-and-gold squad that has struggled to score as of late, going 2-3 from long range and hitting 6-of-10 field goals on the evening. Graham’s 18 ties his career high, his third double-digit output of the season.

Graham added six rebounds and an assist in the win.

Bradford Burgess came up big against a small Dukes squad, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with ten points, two assists and a block.

Darius Theus rounds out the list of double-digit scorers for the Rams. Theus scored 12 points and hit a rare couple of threes in the win. Theus lead the Rams with four assists as well.

Freshman Brianted Weber continued his defensive dominance against the Dukes. Weber notched four steals to go along with six points and three rebounds.

Weber’s four steals moves him three ahead of ODU’s Kent Bazemore as the CAA’s current leader in the category. Bazemore is the CAA’s Preseason Player of the Year and 2011 CAA Defensive Player of the Year.

VCU will look to notch their second CAA road win of the season, as the Rams head to Newark to take on the Blue Hens of Delaware (7-8, 3-2) this Saturday at 2PM.