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SPORTS

Spartan effort still not enough

Friday, December 23, 2011
(Updated 9:35 am)

GREENSBORO (AP) — Bradford Burgess scored 19 points as Virginia Commonwealth beat UNCG 80-68 Thursday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.

UNCC trailed 38-34 at halftime and got as close as two points early in the second half. But with 14:17 to play and VCU up 45-43, the Rams went on a 16-4 run. Rob Brandenberg scored eight straight points during that span.

“VCU, they wear you down, they keep coming at you every possession,” said Wes Miller, UNCG’s interim coach.

The loss was the eighth in a row for the Spartans (2-11) and their third loss since Mike Dement stepped down and Miller took over.

“Mainly, I feel bad for the guys. It’s been a tough two weeks,” Miller said. “I feel bad they haven’t had the chance to taste winning.”

Trevis Simpson scored 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting to lead UNCG, which outrebounded VCU 31-30.

The Rams, who came in leading the country in opponent's turnover rate at 28 percent, forced only 14 turnovers.

VCU won its sixth straight.

Burgess set a VCU team record with his 122nd straight start. That eclipsed the record held by Michael Brown, who started every game from 1981-84.

VCU (9-3)

Reddic 5-7 5-6 15, Burgess 7-12 4-4 21, Haley 1-3 0-0 2, Theus 2-4 3-6 7, Brandenberg 5-10 7-8 17, Weber 3-3 0-0 6, Okereafor 1-1 0-0 2, Graham 1-1 2-2 4, Daniels 2-7 0-0 6, Hinton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-48 21-26 80.

UNCG (2-11)

Simpson 6-18 6-8 20, Brackett 5-10 0-0 10, Williams 2-6 0-1 4, Parker 2-3 0-0 5, Van Dussen 1-7 0-0 2, Armstrong 5-13 0-0 11, Randall 3-6 2-2 10, Henry 2-2 2-4 6, Hoffer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-65 10-15 68.

Halftime—VCU 38-34.

Percentages—VCU (FG .563, FT .808), UNCG (FG .400, FT .667).

3-point goals—VCU 5-18 (Burgess 3-6, Daniels 2-7, Reddic 0-1, Brandenberg 0-4), UNCG 6-22 (Randall 2-5, Simpson 2-7, Parker 1-2, Armstrong 1-5, Williams 0-1, Van Dussen 0-2).

Fouled out—Simpson.

Rebounds—VCU 30 (Haley 7), UNCG 31 (Williams 9).

Team rebounds—VCU 3, UNCG 6.

Assists—VCU 8 (Brandenberg 3), UNCG 13 (Armstrong 5).

Blocked shots—VCU 3 (Haley 2), UNCG 1 (Henry).

Turnovers—VCU 15 (Reddic 4), UNCG 14 (Armstrong 5).

Steals—VCU 8 (Brandenberg 2, Weber 2, Okereafor 2), UNCG 5 (Williams 2, Armstrong 2).

Total fouls—VCU 16, UNCG 19.

A—2,716.

Officials—Tim Nestor, Tim Comer, Alan Spainhour.

Accompanying Photos

Comments

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Clyde

December 23, 2011 - 2:49 pm EST

Nice to see the renewed effort and the smaller rotation. Always wondered why you would play so many people when you have such a poor record. That is an admission that all of your players are equally bad, and that has never been the case. Clearly there are some players with above average MidMajor talent on this club. Also helpful when you get to play more than 43 seconds before getting 'rotated'.

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