VCU is famous for its “Havoc” defense, and their vaunted pressure returned after a 1 game absence as the Rams ousted the Oregon Ducks 77-63 in the third place game of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn.
A night earlier, #14 VCU was unable to get either its offense or its pressure defense going against the Villanova Wildcats in a 77-53 loss.
This night was vastly different, however, against the Ducks. VCU forced 20 turnovers (albeit while committing 20 miscues of its own) and converted easy baskets en route to its fourth victory of the season.
All five VCU starters scored in double figures, led by Melvin Johnson’s 19 points, in a performance that left a much better taste in the mouths of the Rams players.
"I'm sort of glad we got slapped in the mouth yesterday because you should have saw the attention in the locker room," Johnson said. "Everyone was humbled by it and was ready to get better as a unit and I think today we showed a good example of that."
Meanwhile, Oregon got only nine points from Joseph Young, the Pac-12’s leading scorer from last year, but was able to hang around enough to make the game interesting. It was not until the final minutes that VCU finally pulled away.
The Ducks were lead in scoring by Dillon Brooks. Elgin Cook and Casey Benson each added 11 points in the loss that dropped Oregon to 3-2 on the season.
But the Rams’ defense was the story on this night, as it is expected to be if they are to continue a successful season.
"I think from now on, coach [Shaka Smart] is going to put even more emphasis on us getting stops," Johnson said. "You think of us, you think of a defensive team, but we haven't been living up to it. Today, we put an emphasis on every single stop."
"Our guys did a great job following the plan that we put in place,” Smart said of his team’s effort. “Obviously it was a quick turnaround coming off of last night's game.”
