Koch Arena has never been an easy place to travel to—today proved no exception as the Shockers of Wichita St. handed VCU its third loss of the season, 73-63.
Marcus Evans scored the first three points for the Rams on two separate trips to the free throw line in the first 60 seconds of the game. The Shockers, meanwhile, jumped out to an 11-3 lead before De’Riante Jenkins hit a three-pointer to bring the Rams deficit to 5 points just two and a half minutes into the game.
That was as close as the Rams would get for the remainder of the day.
Evans, despite shooting 2-8 from the floor, led all scorers with 15 points. The senior guard lived at the free throw line as he knocked down 10 of his 12 attempts before ultimately fouling out.
The Rams shot 38% overall from the floor—a number that allowed the Shockers to win the battle on the boards, 42-37, including 16 offensive rebound that led to 13 second chance points.
VCU came into todays game as the 7th best team in the nation in steal percentage per contest with 10.45 per game, and while the Rams grabbed ten steals—they turned the Shockers over 16 times on the day—they also coughed the ball up a total of 18 times which lead to 15 points for WSU.
Issac Vann was the only other Ram to score in double digits with 11 points. He led VCU with 2 assists.
Marcus Santos-Silva (7 points) and Jenkins co-led the Rams with 7 rebounds each.
VCU outscored the Shockers in the second half, 33-31, but the 12 point halftime deficit was just too much to overcome in a sold out Charles Koch Arena.
The Rams fall to 9-3 overall on the season, but return to action on Sunday, December 29th, as they host Loyal (MD).
That game is set to tip at 5pm EST and will be broadcast on NBCSN.
