Colonial Fans

Scores

Tuesday, December 13

Drexel 71, Niagara 58

Wednesday, December 14

Coppin State 71, Towson 57

Thursday, December 15

William & Mary 70, Wesley 47

Saturday, December 17

Drexel 73, Bradley 68

Hofstra 82, Binghamton 62

UCF 61, Old Dominion 53

VCU 87, UNC-Wilmington 64

Georgia State 71, Utah Valley 68

Sunday, December 18

Missouri 94, William & Mary 56

Princeton 71, Northeastern 62

There wasn’t a lot of news to be found this past week in the Colonial Athletic Association. The second full week and the third full weekend of December usually offer a diminished slate of high-quality games following the glut of Thanksgiving tournaments and early-December made-for-TV games. Kids are either taking final exams or preparing for Christmas, and there’s just not enough reasons for coaches to schedule especially demanding games in this portion of the calendar. Early December represents a time to get the attention of players. The post-Christmas buildup to the conference season is another time when coaches can schedule one last marquee non-conference game, but right now, it’s fairly slim pickings. Therefore, no one in the CAA scheduled boldly this past week… or, to put the matter more precisely, no coach from a power-conference school was willing to take on a CAA team. Therefore, the roster of games was relatively light in terms of quantity and stature.

The only real headliner in the league was the conference game which took place this past week. While everyone else in the league played unfamiliar foes, Virginia Commonwealth locked its Ram horns with UNC-Wilmington on home hardwood in Richmond, Virginia. The VCU crew promptly took care of business in a 23-point romp. Bradford Burgess led the Rams with 22 points in 27 minutes on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, including a stellar 5-for-10 performance from three-point range. Four Rams scored at least 15 points, giving coach Shaka Smart the balanced production any bench boss craves. The Rams didn’t just offer the Seahawks a primary or secondary scoring option, but tertiary and fourth options as well.

The biggest statistic in the game had nothing to do with shooting totals or three-point percentages. It was the fact that Virginia Commonwealth forced 28 UNC-Wilmington turnovers. The Rams hounded Wilmington guards K.K. Simmons (7 turnovers) and Tanner Milson (6 turnovers) into 13 combined giveaways. Milson’s six turnovers were committed in a span of just 13 game minutes. The Rams will face tougher tests as the CAA season continues, but they certainly can’t argue with the way they started their conference campaign.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer