Early in tonight's matchup it looked as if the Rams would exit Norfolk with a rare easy road win over ODU, but a second half in which the Monarchs outscored VCU by 22 points turned VCU's dream evening into a nightmare for fans of the black and gold.
VCU's (5-2) came out firing on all cylinders early, going up by as many as 17 in the first half before taking a 12-point lead into the locker room. The second half was an entirely different story altogether however, as ODU had completely erased the Rams lead by the under eight timeout and were able to slowly distance themselves in the eventual 62-52 win.
VCU's defense looked dominant early and held Old Dominion to just 35% shooting on the night, but another cold offensive performance from the Rams and just 34.7% shooting themselves eventually helped doom the black and gold.
Turnovers were a bit of an issue for VCU once again, losing the TO battle to ODU by five (14-9), which combined with an eight-rebound advantage for the Monarchs created 11 more field goal attempts and six more free throws for ODU in tonight's defeat of the Rams.
VCU connected on just 30% of their threes in the loss. The Rams are shooting 29% from deep on the season, which ranks 302nd nationally. VCU hit 35.2% of their threes as a team last season.
It was the seventh consecutive game (out of seven games total) that VCU has been outscored in the second half and the second consecutive game in which they've been outscored by double-digits in the closing half of a game, coincidentally both coming to former CAA rivals.
Marcus Evans led VCU with 14 points in the loss. He was 5-13 from the field.
Marcus Santos-Silva grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and added seven points in the loss.
Sean Mobley missed tonight's contest with a knew injury.
The Rams return to the Siegel Center this week for a Saturday tip against Iona, then hit the road again for two tough contests at UVA and then Texas.
VCU's (5-2) came out firing on all cylinders early, going up by as many as 17 in the first half before taking a 12-point lead into the locker room. The second half was an entirely different story altogether however, as ODU had completely erased the Rams lead by the under eight timeout and were able to slowly distance themselves in the eventual 62-52 win.
VCU's defense looked dominant early and held Old Dominion to just 35% shooting on the night, but another cold offensive performance from the Rams and just 34.7% shooting themselves eventually helped doom the black and gold.
Turnovers were a bit of an issue for VCU once again, losing the TO battle to ODU by five (14-9), which combined with an eight-rebound advantage for the Monarchs created 11 more field goal attempts and six more free throws for ODU in tonight's defeat of the Rams.
VCU connected on just 30% of their threes in the loss. The Rams are shooting 29% from deep on the season, which ranks 302nd nationally. VCU hit 35.2% of their threes as a team last season.
It was the seventh consecutive game (out of seven games total) that VCU has been outscored in the second half and the second consecutive game in which they've been outscored by double-digits in the closing half of a game, coincidentally both coming to former CAA rivals.
Marcus Evans led VCU with 14 points in the loss. He was 5-13 from the field.
Marcus Santos-Silva grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and added seven points in the loss.
Sean Mobley missed tonight's contest with a knew injury.
The Rams return to the Siegel Center this week for a Saturday tip against Iona, then hit the road again for two tough contests at UVA and then Texas.
