Minutemen Stomp Rams in Amherst

Final Score: UMass 74, VCU 52
Location: Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.
Current records: UMass 17-9, 8-6 in A-10. VCU 17-9, 9-4 in A-10. 

In a nutshell: Throughout VCU's second game of its mid-February road trip, the Rams were slow to react on defense and flat on offense. VCU won that previous matchup at St. Louis, but in the doing the Rams had allowed the Billikens to score 85 points. Unfortunately, that slack defense carried over to this tilt at UMass. That, while the zone defense of the Minutemen stifled the Rams offense -- VCU misfired on its first 14 shots from the field. 

With five games now remaining on the Rams regular season schedule, losing to the Minutemen dealt a serious blow to the hopes of bracketology watchers. Looking ahead to the seeding of the A-10 tournament, staying within the conference's top four in the standings is now a top priority. Fortunately, VCU's next game will be at home. 

NOTES: (Information provided by Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.)

• Coming off the bench, Joe Bamisile scored 13 points, corralled four rebounds and knocked down 5-of-6 attempts at the free throw line for the Rams. 
• Max Shulga supplied 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point line for VCU. He added five rebounds and a steal. 
• Sean Bairstow chipped in eight rebounds and six assists to the VCU effort, while Tobi Lawal contributed six points and seven boards. 
• VCU started cold and was unable to recover. UMass built a 17-2 lead to open the contest and took a 38-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime. 
• Bairstow found junior forward Roosevelt Wheeler for a dunk off a pick-and-roll to trim UMass’ lead to 48-38 with 14:00 remaining. But the Minutemen promptly responded with a 7-0 burst, punctuated by a Jayden Ndjigue 3-pointer at the 12:01 mark. The Rams never seriously threatened again. 
• VCU shot just 30 percent (17-of-56) from the field in the contest, including 25 percent (7-of-28) in the first half. 
• Josh Cohen led all scorers with 20 points for UMass, while Matt Cross turned in an 18-point, 12-rebound effort for the Minutemen. UMass shot 48 percent (28-of-59) from the field in the game and owned a 41-33 rebounding advantage. The Minutemen held a 23-3 margin in points off turnovers and 16-9 on second-chance opportunities. 

BOX SCORE

NEXT UP: VCU will host St. Joe’s on Sun., Feb. 25 at the Siegel Center. Tipoff at 4 p.m. That tilt will be seen nationally on the CBS Sports Network.