Havoc blown by U.Va.
Fred Jeter | 12/12/2014, 5:55 a.m.
![Havoc has been dealt a black eye, and now another tough customer packing a punch is headed this way. Havoc has been dealt a black eye, and now another tough customer packing a punch is headed this way.](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2014/12/11/VCU_UVA__10_of_13_t580.jpg?8f1b5874916776826eb17d7e67de7278c987ca33)
Havoc has been dealt a black eye, and now another tough customer packing a punch is headed this way.
The Virginia Commonwealth University basketball team, with the trademark Havoc, lost its first home game in 680 days on Dec. 6 as the University of Virginia rolled over the Rams, 74-57, before a rollicking Siegel Center sellout crowd and national TV audience.
The loss halted the Rams’ 22-game home winning streak dating to Jan. 26, 2012, and dropped coach Shaka Smart’s team to 5-3.
Havoc-busting U.Va., thwarting the partisan throng, left town 9-0, nationally ranked No. 7 and feeling avenged for a loss to the Rams a year ago in Charlottesville.
Having been cold-cocked, the Rams must clear their heads and quickly regain traction.
This is no time to get wobbly. Next up for VCU is University of Northern Iowa, another undefeated outfit with a reputation as a fierce road warrior, on Saturday, Dec. 13.
Last month, the Missouri Valley Conference Panthers won at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, ending the Jacks’ 34-game home victory string that was the NCAA’s longest.
Now ranked No. 23 in the latest Associated Press poll, the Cedar Falls school also has become the state of Virginia big-game hunter, already beating Virginia Tech, University of Richmond and George Mason University.
VCU fell at Northern Iowa last year, so at least the Rams will have a revenge motive this go-round for what will be the 54th straight sellout at their raucous Broad Street playpen.
Nationally, only Duke, Kansas, Michigan State and Gonzaga have longer sold-out streaks.
VCU must hope Northern Iowa has no one similar to U.Va.’s Justin Anderson.
Hailing from Montross on the Northern Neck, the 6-foot-6 sophomore turned in perhaps the most dazzling performance ever by a visiting jump shooter at the Siegel Center.
Despite suffering an ankle injury during the previous game at University of Maryland, Anderson was 6-of-7 from the floor, 3-of-4 behind the arc and 6-of-6 at the foul line, scoring 21 points, and resembling an ACC Player of the Year candidate.
Meanwhile, VCU’s Atlantic-10 Player of the Year hopeful, Treveon Graham, sparkled, but lacked a supporting cast.
Graham, a senior from Maryland, drilled five 3-point shots, had 17 points and moved into the 12th spot on the Rams’ all-time scoring chart.
Pressing relentlessly, VCU forced 16 Virginia turnovers, but the Wahoos were stunningly efficient otherwise, calmly going 28-41 from the floor, for 68 percent.
Unflappable, the Cavaliers poked holes in Havoc, a frenetic style reliant on a barracuda-like, feeding-frenzy defense.
The more reckless the tempo, the more it plays in the Rams’ favor. Under coach Smart, VCU is 43-5 in games with at least 74 possessions.
Virginia limited possessions to a more pedestrian 63.
Havoc also hangs its hat on 3-point shooting. The Rams launch nearly 40 percent of their shots outside the 21-foot arc.
While Graham was 5-9 from long distance, the Rams were a shaky 7-24 overall. Often reliable Melvin Johnson scored 15 points, but was 1-for-6 on 3-point shots.
The schedule was designed to challenge the Rams non-conference, and it has. Ranked as high as 14th nationally in November, the Rams lost to Villanova and at Old Dominion University.
The road ahead is filled with potholes.
The Rams host Belmont (7-1) Dec. 16 and travel to Cincinnati (6-1) Dec. 20.
Despite the U.Va. loss, the Rams are 71-8 at home under coach Smart. Previously, VCU was 3-0 against ranked teams at home, thrashing No. 17 Oklahoma in 2009, No. 20 Butler in 2013 and No. 10 St. Louis last season.
On a historical note, U.Va’s Siegel Center visit was 16 years overdue. Virginia had agreed to play the Rams there in 1998, when the facility was scheduled to open.
However, the grand opening was delayed a year and U.Va. played the Rams at the Robins Center instead in 1998, with boxing icon Michael Buffer performing his signature “Let’s get ready to rumble” in pre-game announcements.
The Siegel Center actually opened in 1999, with VCU defeating Louisville in its first-ever game there. It was a good omen.
The Rams are 195-30 all-time at home under coaches Mack McCarthy, Jeff Capel, Anthony Grant and coach Smart.