Game 21: #18 Virginia Commonwealth University, Wednesday, February 4th, 7 PM, CBS SN

[Washingtonian]

vcu got devastating news yesterday when Briante Weber tore his ACL and MCL late in the game against Richmond.

vcu's discussion of the game on Wed. night can be read here: http://forums.vcuramnation.com/threads/the-official-beat-the-goomoos-in-fairfax-thread.14535/

vcu comes in with a 17-4 record after losing to Richmond at the Siegel Center on Saturday by a score of 64-55. They lost to Old Dominion back on Nov. 29th by a score of 73-67. They beat Northern Iowa on Dec 13th by a score of 93-87 in double OT. There are no other common out of conference opponents.

The schedule can be found here:
http://www.vcuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/schedule

Stats here:
http://www.vcuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/files/201415-CumulativeStats.pdf

Treveon Graham is averaging 16.8 PPG and 6.7 RPG. Melvon Johnson is averaging 13.0 PPG. Mo Alie-Cox is averaging 5.0 RPG.

Discuss.

 

[Patriotfan49]

 

[JimP]

vcu - 72
GMU - 58

 

[Patriotsince81]

The injury to Weber will hurt them when they play good teams but the effect will be minimal against us. vcu 95 - GMU 35. We turn the ball over 36 times. A crowd of 8,500 (7,500 from vcu) packs the Patriot Center. After the game the A10 demotes us to the Patriot League for the remainder of the year.

 

[MasonCrew]

Can't imagine us coming too close in this game. Would love to be wrong as vcu is probably my least favorite school. Not as a rivalry, but just an actual dislike for most vcu fans.

Really bad news for them about Weber. Seeing a player go down with an injury is always unfortunate. You have to feel for the guy.

 

[GMUgemini]

Really depends on how well they're shooting. Last year, they shot around 37% from the field and the difference in the game was the incredible amount of times we put them on the line.

If they are cold from 3, I say it's a close win by vcu (and by close I mean somewhere in the 8 point range). If they are on from 3, this is probably a 20 point win for them.

 

[Vurbel]

We win by 15.

Who am I kidding? We get smashed.

 

[Pablo]

IMO, the key to the offense is not Shevon Thompson but Marquise Moore. This team cannot afford for Marquise to play passively, whether it's vcu's full-court pressure defense or Duquesne's 2-3 (or 2-1-2) zone defense.

I assume that the ankle injury is still bothering him. But, the team needs him to play aggressively every game.

 

[GMURaider]

Rams 100 Patriots 49

vcu players will be diving for balls and steals with two minutes to go...

The Patriot Center will echo with You Don't Want to Go to War with the Rams

 

[Walter]

This would be a good opportunity for Brad Edwards to make a statement by firing Hewitt after the beat down.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Holy Snike!! ACL, MCL, and meniscus and just 12 steals shy of setting an NCAA record. That is truly horrific.

 

[GSII]

So they lost their PG, and are still 10 times better at the position than we are. Laughable and embarassing roster management.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Holy Snike!! ACL, MCL, and meniscus and just 12 steals shy of setting an NCAA record. That is truly horrific.

I would still let him play. On one leg he'll still get 3-4 steals against our guards...

This game will actually be fairly close, especially without Weber. We at least keep it within single digits easily I wager.

 

[JPgmuswim]

I hate vcu but I feel bad for Weber, only 12 steals from the D-1 record. All he needed was the game against us to break it. With or without him we are gonna get crushed. We lose by 17.

 

[gmutom]

vcu should beat us without Weber, but he was by far the most important player on their team. Graham is their best offensive player, but Weber controls the tempo on both ends of the court. As GS point out, they have decent backups, but nobody can fill Briante's shows.

The kid is an absolutely stud and — assuming he fully recovers — absolutely has the talent to play professionally on this side of the Atlantic.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

on this side of the Atlantic.

That would be the left side, if you're looking at the globe.

Just trying to keep it simple for the people with Mason degrees on this board, like myself.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

They'll probably take their anger out pretty hard on Mason. 80-65.

 

[Pablo]

That would be the left side, if you're looking at the globe.

Just trying to keep it simple for the people with Mason degrees on this board, like myself.

This would not be an issue if Larranaga was still here - see http://worldball.gmu.edu/get_a_world_ball.html.

 

[Herndon]

They are going to push our stool in for us, and it's a shame for Weber.

 

[Sons of Mason]

It'll look similar to the outcome of this.

vcu under Captain Smart

VS

GMU under Captain Hewitt