VCU avoided a road slip up against the winless Towson Tigers (0-22, 0-10) tonight in Maryland, and got a slump-breaking big night from sophomore Rob Brandenberg in the process.
The Rams jumped out to a 35-17 halftime lead behind a hot-handed Brandenberg. The Ohio native opened up the scoring for VCU and hit back-to-back threes to give the Rams an 8-6 early advantage and handling all the scoring duties to open the game.
The Tigers tied it up at 10 before VCU hit their extra gear and clamped down on the defensive end. The Rams held Towson to just two made field goals over the final 7:24 of the first half.
Brandenberg lead the Rams on both ends of the floor, posting a game-high 16 points on offense and another game-high four steals on the defensive end.
The sophomore had struggled shooting heading into this one, having been held to single digits in the previous eight games.
VCU was a menace for an opposing offense yet again, turning the Tigers over 24 times and holding them to just under 30% from the floor.
Treveon Graham was the only other Ram to reach double-digits, going for 13 points off the bench in a game where VCU’s reserves outscored both teams starters with 41 points on the night.
Graham lead VCU with eight rebounds.
Darius Theus was unable to hit double-digits in the scoring column for the first time in his last four games, but did manage to dish out a season-high 10 assists for VCU.
The win moves VCU to 17-5 overall (8-2 in CAA play), matching last year’s win total through as many games, an impressive feat for one of the ten youngest teams in the country.
The road gets a lot tougher this Saturday however as VCU gets a rematch against a Georgia State (14-7, 6-4) team that handed the Rams their only home loss of the season.
A win would put VCU in a much better position down the stretch, moving the Rams three games ahead of the Panthers who currently sit at 6-4 and fifth place in the conference. Top four teams earn a Friday CAA tournament bye, while no team outside of the top four has ever gone on to walk away with the Championship.
