VCU kicked off their season in style with a Thanksgiving Eve upset win over the Aggies of Utah State. The young, rebuilt Rams, threw an army of players at the 2020 Mountain West champ, erasing a three-point halftime deficit and turning it into a 85-69 blowout win.
A total of 12 Rams put their name in the scoring column led by sophomore Bones Hyland’s game-high 23 points. Hyland started off red-hot in the first half from distance and finished 5-10 from beyond the three-point arc.
Hyland was joined in the backcourt by freshman starter, Ace Baldwin, who dished out a game-high seven assists.
Junior wing Vince Williams came off the bench to stuff the stat sheet in the win. The Toledo native notched 15 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Williams was only outpaced on the glass by fellow junior, KeShawn Curry, who grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go with his 10 points on the evening.
The Rams got eight points from each of Corey Douglas and sophomore, Tre Clarke. Clarke went a perfect 4-4 from the field.
VCU shot an impressive 52.8% in the win including 41.7% from long range, which combined with a defense that forced 18 Utah State turnovers, was more than enough to punch their ticket to a semifinal Crossover Classic matchup with Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers.
