Virginia Commonwealth University’s winning basketball recipe includes balanced scoring plus a little discussed “secret” ingredient — balanced fouling.

Now with eight straight wins after last Friday’s 84-73 victory at the University of Richmond, the Rams are 22-5 heading into difficult Atlantic 10 Conference road tests at the University of Rhode Island and the University of Dayton.

VCU began the week tied with Dayton for the A-10 Conference lead with an 11-2 conference record.

With no primary megastar, the Rams thrive on balanced point production and an “expect the unexpected” concept, making it difficult for opponents to draw up defensive game plans.

While JeQuan Lewis (15.6 points per game) has been most consistent, six different Rams have led scoring at least once.

Lewis, a senior guard, is followed by Justin Tillman, with 12.4 points per game; Mo Alie-Cox, 10.1 points per game; Samir Doughty, 9.1 points; Jonathan Williams, 8.2 points; Ahmed Hamdy-Mohamed, 5.9 points; Jordan Burgess, 5.8 points; Doug Brooks, 5.9 points; and DeRiante Jenkins, 5.0 points.

Then there’s the fouling, a tradition of sorts stemming from the era of former Coach Shaka Smart and his in-your-face defense.                

Committing an inordinate amount of fouls is generally a sign of weakness that more than likely spells defeat. Not so with Coach Will Wade’s title-contending Rams, who average 20.8 fouls.

Of 347 NCAA Division I squads, only 47 teams — mostly at the bottom in terms of standings — have been whistled more often than VCU.

The Rams committed 25 fouls in last week’s game against UR and 25 in the previous game against St. Joseph’s University.

Consider this: Little of VCU’s fouling has come in desperation catch-up situations. It’s employed during the late lead in all but a handful of contests.

VCU’s fouling is, at least in part by design, the result of aggressive defense, aka “Havoc.” VCU has huge advantages in steals and forcing turnovers.  

Excessive fouling works for the Rams because of the team’s depth of talent. Few squads have that luxury. The fouls basically are spread over about nine or so players, so there are minimal disqualifications — just 11 so far.

In the game at UR, Tillman fouled out, three Rams finished with four fouls and two others with three fouls.

Brooks, the primary ball hawk, has the most fouls, 84, followed by Alie-Cox with 71, Hamdy-Mohamed, 61, Tillman, 60, and Doughty, 57.

Fouling can be a positive in that it tosses a hiccup into the opponent’s rhythm, almost like a timeout. It can foil momentum-stirring dunks and force opponents to earn their points at the foul line.

In VCU’s game on Dec. 10 in Norfolk, Old Dominion University made just 13 of 28 foul shots, fueling a VCU road win.

Threedom fighter: Lewis was 9 for 15 behind the arc and finished with 34 points against St. Joseph’s. VCU’s record for 3 pointers in a single game is 11 set by Troy Daniels in 2013 against East Tennessee University.

Lewis’ back court replacement in the upcoming seasons likely will be signee 6-foot-2 Levar Batts Jr. from Jay Robinson High School in Concord, N.C. Batts averaged 23 points, six rebounds and four assists as a senior, helping Robinson High to an 18-7 final record. Robinson High School won North Carolina’s 3A state title last year.