National Basketball Association
VCU 63, Saint Louis 61
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, January 23, 2015
Where: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Officials:
# Jeffrey Anderson, # Roger Ayers, # Jamie Luckie
Attendance:
9643
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 16 VCU 63, Saint Louis 61: Treveon Graham drove for the go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds left and finished with 21 points as the visiting Rams held off the upset-minded Billikens.
Briante Weber added 15 points for VCU (16-3, 6-0 Atlantic 10), which shot 36.7 percent from the field but managed to extend its winning streak to 11 straight. Melvin Johnson, who averages 13.9 points, was held to four on 1-of-8 shooting but contributed six rebounds and five assists for the Rams.
Milik Yarbrough scored 15 points and Austin McBroom had 12 off the bench to lead Saint Louis (9-10, 1-5). Achraf Yacoubou added nine points and six rebounds as the Billikens fell for the sixth time in seven games.
McBroom split a pair of free throws to pull Saint Louis within 58-57 with just over two minutes left and Graham missed two from the line before Yacoubou hit the tying free throw and McBroom’s jumper put the Billikens in front 60-58 with 42 seconds left. Jordan Burgess knocked down a 3-pointer to put VCU back on top and Yacoubou split a pair of free throws with 7.3 seconds left to set up the dramatic finish.
Graham and Terry Larrier each scored five points during a 12-0 run that put the Rams up 24-16 with over nine minutes left in the first half but Saint Louis battled back to take a 32-28 lead before it went into the half knotted at 34. The Billikens used a 5-0 burst to grab a 43-40 lead before Graham’s jumper capped a 7-0 spurt to put VCU back in front with 8 1/2 minutes left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Yacoubou missed two free throws in the final 1:37 and Saint Louis went 16-of-23 from the line. … VCU swept a three-game road trip while winning by an average of 4.3 points. … Johnson went 0-of-2 from 3-point range after hitting 12-of-24 in the previous three contests.
Top Game Performances
VCU |
|
Saint Louis |
Treveon Graham 21 |
Scoring |
Milik Yarbrough 15 |
Melvin Johnson 5 |
Assists |
Marcus Bartley 7 |
Mo Alie-Cox 6 |
Rebounds |
Achraf Yacoubou 6 |
Treveon Graham 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Achraf Yacoubou 5 |
Melvin Johnson 2 |
Steals |
Davell Roby 1 |
Mo Alie-Cox 3 |
Blocks |
N/A |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
VCU
|
63 |
36.7 |
7-23 |
20-27 |
11 |
27 |
4 |
6 |
11 |
Saint Louis
|
61 |
43.8 |
3-13 |
16-23 |
14 |
31 |
0 |
2 |
14 |