Sophomore Xavier Cork led three Catamounts in double figures on Tuesday evening, but VCU carried momentum gained from a late run that closed out the first half coupled with a late scoring flurry to hand the Catamounts a 93-68 setback on Tuesday night in the Siegel Center.
VCU improves to 6-2 while the Catamounts drop to 6-2 as WCU’s five-game win streak was halted.
Cork finished in double figures for the eighth straight game with 16 points. Senior Matt Halvorsen and sophomore Tyler Harris both scored 12 points while Harris pulled down a team-best six rebounds.
Nah’Shon Hyland led four VCU players in double figures with 31 points along with Jamir Watkins (15), Corey Douglas (11), and Vince Williams (10).
The Rams opened the nonconference game on an 8-2 run following a Hyland 3-pointer just under three minutes in. WCU roared back, though, pulling to within a point, 14-13, thanks to a Faulkner trey with 13:19 to play in the opening half. Over the next five minutes, the Rams lead oscillated between three and eight points. The Catamounts went on a 10-2 run and tied the game at 29 with a Cork layup with 4:45 showing on the first-half clock before VCU closed the half on a 14-1 run to lead 43-30 at halftime.
Following a Hyland layup that gave the hosts a 56-39 lead just before the under-16 media timeout in the second half, the Catamounts used a 9-2 spurt to pull within 10, 58-48, thanks to a Cork jumper at the 13:48 mark. VCU answered with 10 of the next 13 points and led by no fewer than 14 the rest of the way.
WCU committed a season-high 20 turnovers resulting in 29 VCU points. The Rams were 37-for-63 (58.7 percent) from the field while the Catamounts finished 25-for-55 (45.5 percent). Both teams grabbed 28 rebounds, marking the second straight game that WCU finished with the same number of rebounds as its opponent.
The Catamounts conclude the 2020-21 nonconference slate on Friday at former Southern Conference rival College of Charleston. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live coverage scheduled on the Catamount Sports Network.
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| Steven GrandyDirector of Media Relations |