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Virginia Commonwealth University

#LetsGoVCU

Men's Basketball

BROOKS, ALIE-COX SPARK SPRINTING VCU PAST RHODE ISLAND

Box Score

Score:  VCU 83, Rhode Island 67
Location: Richmond, Va. (Stuart C. Siegel Center)
Records: VCU 19-7 (11-2 A-10), Rhode Island 14-12 (6-7)
Attendance: 7,637 (81st consecutive sellout)

The Short Story: Mo Alie-Cox pumped in a career-high 21 points and Doug Brooks came up with seven of VCU's 13 steals to spark the Black and Gold to an 83-67 win over Rhode Island.

THE DIFFERENCE
  • VCU forced Rhode Island into 16 turnovers and outscored the Rams from New England 22-8 off takeaways. The Black and Gold also held Rhode Island to just 1-of-12 shooting from three.
  • Senior Korey Billbury scored eight points in the final 1:53 of the first half to fuel a 13-2 blitz that gave VCU a 37-23 advantage at the break. Billbury punctuated the run with a 3-pointer from the wing to beat the first half buzzer.
  • Rhode Island made a late run to pull within 68-60 with 4:29 left, but an 8-2 final push by VCU salted away the victory.

OPENING TIP

  • Alie-Cox battered Rhody inside, converting 10-of-12 from the field. VCU scored 48 of its points in the paint Tuesday.
  • Senior Melvin Johnson added 19 points and four assists for VCU, while Billbury kicked in 14 and six rebounds.
  • VCU shot 53 percent (32-of-60) from the field in the win, the Black and Gold's second-straight contest in which it scored at least 80 points and shot better than 50 percent.
  • Sophomore JeQuan Lewis played distributor, tossing around a team-high six assists. He did not commit a turnover and grabbed three steals.
  • VCU's Ahmed Hamdy also provided eight points and a personal-best four blocked shots off the bench.
  • Rhode Island's Jared Terrell led all scorers with 22 points.

NOTABLE

  • VCU just committed eight turnovers in the game.
  • With the win, the VCU keeps pace with Dayton in the Atlantic 10 standings. VCU currently sits second, a game behind the Flyers.  
  • VCU has defeated Rhode Island in all four meetings between the two schools as A-10 members. 
  • Johnson hit four 3-pointers Tuesday and needs five more to pass B.A. Walker and become VCU's career leader. He also cracked the 1,500-point barrier Tuesday.

WHAT'S NEXT
VCU remains home and will host cross-town rival Richmond on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. That contest can be seen on ESPN2.  

 

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