59-56 Homecoming win over Northeastern makes it nine straight for Rams

Freshman Treveon Graham (center) led VCU with three steals on Saturday night. (Photo by Chris Conway)

Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor
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VCU (20-5 overall, 11-2 CAA) beat Northeastern (11-12 overall, 7-6 CAA) 59-56 in Saturday night’s homecoming game thanks to five three pointers from Troy Daniels and a team-wide defensive effort which resulted in 15 Northeastern turnovers.

Freshman Treveon Graham (center) led VCU with three steals on Saturday night. (Photo by Chris Conway)

“That’s too many if you expect to come up with a win on the road,” said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen on his team’s ball-control issues.

VCU had 21 points off the 15 turnovers, nine of which were credited as steals. Jonathan Lee, Northeastern’s leading scorer at 14.8 ppg, had six turnovers on his own but also led all scorers with 16 points, 10 of which came in a furious but ultimately unsuccessful Huskies comeback in the game’s final three minutes.

Despite ultimately winning the game by just one possession, VCU had a comfortable lead for most of the second half after ending the first half on a 14-2 run, going into the intermission with a six point lead. Daniels hit three pointers on consecutive attempts during the run, which took defensive attention away from Juvonte Reddic later on. The sophomore big man picked up two early fouls and played only nine minutes in the first half, but once the shooters opened things up for him he exploded for his third double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“It opens things up for me a lot,” said Reddic on Daniels’ hot shooting. “I think he’s the best shooter in the league … that helps me get more open because I’m one-on-one in the paint.”

Juvonte Reddic recorded his fourth double-double of the season against Northeastern with 11 points and 11 rebounds. (Photo by Chris Conway)

Reddic, Bradford Burgess and Briante Weber each picked up two quick fouls in what was a tightly officiated contest which saw 37 personal fouls. As a result, DJ Haley, Teddy Okereafor and Treveon Graham each saw a few extra minutes and gave the Rams what Smart said was the difference between the two teams.

“We’ve just got to hold it down until Juvonte and Brad get back in the game,” said point guard Darius Theus. “We’ve got a lot of great players who can step up any night.”

With whistles coming at a rate of nearly one per minute, both teams slashed into the lane at will, hoping to draw contact and get to the free-throw line. Although he was in foul trouble from the opening minutes of the game, Reddic said he didn’t shy away from his aggressive game plan defensively.

“When the ref’s blowing the whistle, that’s one of the things I can’t control,” said Reddic. “Coach (Smart) is big on that – he wants us to focus on what we can control … I’ve got to just keep fighting through it.”

Reddic played all but one minute of the second half and helped shut down the Huskies’ penetration without picking up another foul the rest of the night.

On the other side however, it was the Rams’ inability to make free throws that allowed Northeastern to climb back into the game at the end. VCU made just 12-of-24 free throws, several of which came in the final minutes.

“It was obviously closer than we wanted it to be at the end,” said Smart. “We’ll be shooting a lot of free throws over the next few days.”

Saturday’s win was VCU’s 20th of the season, which makes it six straight 20-win seasons for the program. The current Rams have not lost a game since falling to Drexel 64-58 in Philadelphia back on Jan. 8. Smart said after the game that although it feels good to win nine straight, it is vital to keep getting learning and getting better even while you’re winning.

“We have the X on our backs so a lot of teams are going to give us their best shot,” added Daniels. “We just have to stay aggressive and not play on our heels.”

 

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