Virginia Commonwealth pulls away in win over Davidson

RICHMOND, Va. — Guard/forward Treveon Graham, the top player for Virginia Commonwealth, had a rough first half Wednesday as he missed seven of nine shots from the field.

But the overall depth of the Rams, including some unforeseen help from the bench, was more than Davidson could handle as VCU pulled away for a 71-65 Atlantic 10 victory that was not as close as the final score.

Graham ended up with 15 points and 10 rebounds and guards Melvin Johnson and Terry Larrier, a reserve, each added 11 points as the Rams led by 13 points midway through the second half.

“Everyone did their job and played a big part tonight,” said VCU senior guard Briante Weber, who had six assists. “We need sparks off the bench. It is a breath of fresh air. We are a deeper team than I have ever been a part of. Right now our freshmen are coming in and playing double-digit minutes.”

“We just went after them a whole 40 minutes,” said VCU forward Mo Alie-Cox, who had eight points and five rebounds. “We tried to use our depth, which is one of our main advantages.”

“Coach tells us when we come in we have to lift up the energy,” Larrier said. “All of the jitters are out (for me).”

VCU (12-3, 2-0 in the Atlantic 10) won its seventh game in a row while Davidson fell to 10-3 and 1-1. The Wildcats were paced by guard Brian Sullivan, who had 11 of his 19 points in the first half.

“They are remarkably well coached,” said veteran Davidson head coach Bob McKillop. “They are tough as nails. It was quite an introduction to us … to what a road game means (in the Atlantic 10).”

Despite the loss, McKillop is glad to be in a better league after leaving the Southern Conference. “This is a heavyweight bout every night,” McKillop said. “There is great action in this conference. I am very happy to be a part of this. This is a good move for our program.”

On a night when Graham missed seven of his first nine shots, the Rams bench helped fill an offensive void.

Reserve forward Jarred Guest had a dunk off a nifty pass from reserve guard Doug Brooks (8 points) with 14:04 left in the game to give VCU its biggest lead at the time at 47-39.

“I will take that dunk. It was going down,” Weber said.

Larrier then hit a 3-pointer to make it 52-41 with 11:10 left, and two free throws by Graham made it 57-44 with 8:15 remaining.

Johnson made it 69-57 with a 3-pointer with 2:10 left and two free throws by Graham made it 71-62 with 56.9 seconds to go. Sullivan hit a 3-pointer with 9.7 seconds left to account for the final margin.

“I thought that was a really intense game,” said Shaka Smart, the VCU coach. “They have a very good team, especially on the offensive end. They are hard to guard. Our guys in the last five minutes did a better job of clamping down and getting stops.”

Davidson guard Jack Gibbs, averaging about 17 points per game, was named Atlantic 10 player of the week Monday but was held to 11 points as he made just one of 10 shots from the field.

“We were able to force him into some misses,” Smart said. “He missed some shots from the outside that he would typically make. He is a good player. He got to the line a lot. He is one of the best guys in the league.”

Center Tyler Kalinoski added 16 points and nine boards with six assists for the Wildcats before he fouled out with 7.9 seconds left.

“We struggled more to run our halfcourt offense,” McKillop said. “This is a credit to Shaka and his team. They are not just a pressing team.”

VCU has now won 27 of its past 28 home games and 50 of the last 54 in the past four years.

“I thought that was a really intense game,” said Smart. “They have a very good team, especially on the offensive end. They are hard to guard. Our guys in the last five minutes did a better job of clamping