Coming off a tough loss against Saint Louis, VCU came into the 94th Capital City Classic with something to prove. Last season, VCU split the two-game season series with Richmond. However, this year, they came out with a vengeance.
VCU dominated in its first of two games against Richmond, winning 90-49 on Saturday at The Stuart C. Siegel Center. This win is now VCU’s highest margin of victory against Richmond in school history at 41 and helps extend the undefeated streak at home to 11 on the season.
The Rams started the game down 3-2 before embarking on a 10-0 run and never looked back.
The first half belonged solely to the Rams, as they went into halftime up 44-13. VCU graduate student guard Max Shulga single-handedly outscored Richmond in the first with an efficient 14 points, as well as a team-leading five rebounds and two steals.
“We need him to shoot the basketball. He’s such a good shooter,” VCU coach Ryan Odom said. “He does have a beautiful shot, and we need him to let it go more.”
The Rams’ defense in the first was on another level, holding the Spiders to 19% from the field and 0% from 3 on seven attempts. Meanwhile, on offense, VCU found the same level of success, shooting 64% from the field and 57% from 3.
The start of the second saw Richmond finally find some success on offense, scoring eight straight points before VCU inevitably took control once again.
“When you have lapses like that defensively, they can punish you really quickly,” VCU sophomore Michael Belle said. “Our bench coming on, being able to help the stars and vice versa. We were able to stop the bleeding and you know, carry on the lead.”
VCU saw a lot of players play in the second half, finishing the game with 12 players tallying minutes. All players scored while on the court, including redshirt sophomore Obinnaya Okafor.
Okafor logged his first stats on the season with two points and one assist. Okafor has had trouble finding game time after being sidelined with a torn ACL last season.
“He’s always being supportive, being one of the best teammates on the team,” Belle said. “He’s always smiling.”
The Rams finished the game shooting just as efficiently as they did in the first, shooting 65% from the field and 53% from 3.
“They [VCU] shoot a lot of threes, and when they make them at this rate, then nobody can beat them,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said.
With this win, VCU moves to 17-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference, keeping them in second place only behind George Mason University in the A-10.
VCU will play its next game at home against 11th place La Salle University (12-10, 4-5) at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday.
