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Late bucket leads VCU past Virginia

Nov 13, 2013 - 7:03 AM Charlottesville, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Virginia dictated the pace, but Virginia Commonwealth finished.

Treveon Graham had 22 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining, to lift No. 14 VCU past No. 25 Virginia, 59-56, on Tuesday night.

The Rams (2-0) ended the game on a 10-1 run.

The anticipated clash between teams with completely different defensive philosophies was the first meeting between the schools since 1998. The Rams like to force turnovers with their ball hawking "Havoc" full-court pressure defense, while Virginia likes to stifle opponents with its contesting half- court "Pack Line" style.

"This was great for the state and college basketball in our own little world," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. "I don't know if Kentucky cares too much about this game, or other programs. It was certainly a good atmosphere."

After Darion Atkins' right baseline jumper staked the Cavaliers (1-1) a 55-49 cushion with 2:55 left, Juvonte Reddic's putback dunk and Jordan Burgess' right corner triple on back-to-back touches whittled the deficit to 55-54 with 2:21 to play.

A little more than a minute later, Graham forced a steal and got his right baseline floater to fall for a 56-55 VCU lead with 1:18 on the clock. Joe Harris missed a 3-pointer at the other end, but the Rams' Briante Weber clanked the front end of a one-and-one with 27 ticks remaining.

The Cavs' Malcolm Brogdon drew a foul with 9.7 seconds left and split the pair to knot the tilt at 56-56.

Following a VCU timeout, Rob Brandenberg dribbled around a screen at the top of the arc before firing to Graham, who drained his deep jumper from several feet beyond the left side of the arc.

"When I got the ball back, I knew there were only three seconds left. I take those kind of throwback shots every day in practice. I was confident enough to know if Rob would throw it back I would have made it," Graham said.

Justin Anderson's desperation triple at the horn ricocheted sharply off the glass.

Graham was the only double-digit scorer for the Rams, who defeated Illinois State in their season opener on Friday. Reddic tallied nine points and five rebounds in the triumph.

Harris netted 18 points to go with five rebounds for Virginia, which netted just three points in the final 4:57.

VCU raced out to a 21-14 lead at the 7:10 mark of the first half following JeQuan Lewis' three-point play, but the Cavs answered with 10 straight points before taking a 26-24 margin into the locker room.

Brogdon's jumper capped a 10-2 Virginia swing, which gave the hosts a 50-44 spread with 7:29 remaining.

Game Notes

VCU was just 6-of-15 from the foul line ... Virginia shot 39.1 percent (18- of-46) from the field and was just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc ... The Cavs outrebounded the Rams, 41-28 ... Brogdon finished with 10 points.