The Rams essentially dominated a warmup contest prior to shipping off to Brooklyn for next week’s Legend Classic championship rounds, crushing Maryland Eastern Shore 106-66.
VCU’s starters all played less 16 minutes, giving the black and gold a chance to test their bench while seeing what the future may hold.
Freshmen Terry Larrier led the Rams with 21 points in 20 minutes off the bench. Larrier connected on 4-of-7 three-point attempts and grabbed a team high six rebounds in the win. He was the first freshmen to score 20+ points since Rob Brandenberg posted two of those games filling in for an injured Brandon Rozzell in 2011.
Treveon Graham grabbed six rebounds as well and led VCU’s starters with 17 points on the evening. Melvin Johnson (10 points), Justin Tillman (10) and Doug Brooks round out the group of double-digit scorers for the Rams. Tillman added a game-high three blocks.
VCU shot 61.1% in the first half, 62.5% from range as the Rams took a 61-30 into halftime. The Rams called off the dogs from that point on but scored 45 second half points to allow the black and gold to hit the century mark for the first time since January of 2013.
VCU will lace them up against No.12 Villanova at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY this coming Monday on ESPN2. That games tips at 7PM with the winner moving on to the Legends Classic final.
VCU v UMES from VCU Ram Nation on Vimeo.
