WILL WADE MEDIA MINUTES (FEB. 21)

RAMS SWEEP SAINT LOUIS

Big sweep for VCU Baseball this weekend. Huge. The Rams swept three games from Saint Louis, who had been nipping on VCU’s heels in the A-10 standings. With the sweep, the Rams are locked in a two-team race for the league regular season title with Rhode Island. It’ll be a fun final couple weeks of the regular season.

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SAINT LOUIS NOTEBOOK; GRAHAM LOOKS SHARP AGAIN

Senior Treveon Graham scored a team-best 16 points in Tuesday’s win over Saint Louis.

RICHMOND, Va. – It’s unclear who had more spring in their step Tuesday, Treveon Graham or VCU fans after seeing the Rams’ star look sharp in a 74-54 rout of Saint Louis at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Graham has been nursing a high ankle sprain, originally suffered Jan. 13 at Rhode Island and re-aggravated Feb. 4 at George Mason. The injury has cost Graham three games this season, and VCU has lost two of them.

It’s clear the ailment has affected Graham’s explosiveness of late, a source of concern for fans aware of his importance to this team, especially given the loss of Briante Weber two weeks ago.

But Graham looked much like his old self in Tuesday’s win. He scored VCU’s first eight points against the Billikens. He appeared to have good lift on his jumpers and out-jumped several other players for an early tip-in. Graham finished with a team-high 16 points and six rebounds.

“Yeah, I felt pretty good today,” Graham said afterwards. “Every day I’m getting better and better. I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. If I came out aggressive, I felt like my teammates would come [along].”

VCU Coach Shaka Smart assured people that his trained eyes also saw a more dynamic Graham Tuesday night.

“It’s a big lift he gave us, because our other guys were struggling to score early in the game. I thought tonight was the best that he’s moved since he sustained the injury. So that was good,” said Smart. “He and our athletic trainer have been working really hard around the clock with treatment and different modalities to work on that thing. Sometimes it’s frustrating because it doesn’t seem like it’s doing much, but I thought tonight it was a different bounce that he had and explosiveness.”

NO, YOU WILL NOT BE GOING BASELINE ON JUSTIN TILLMAN

The only thing that would make this highlight better would be a special effects explosion, because Justin Tillman blocked the world out of Saint Louis’ Ash Yacoubou on this play. If this happened to me, I would fake an injury and go back to the lockerroom and curl up in a ball.

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In other news, here are tonight’s pressers.

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EDIT: BONUS AWESOME VIDEO
Here is VCU’s bench reacting to Torey Burston’s first career basket, a 3-pointer, no less.

SHAKA TALKS SLU (MEDIA MINUTES)

A rematch with Saint Louis is on deck here in wintery Richmond. Shaka Smart met with the media Monday to talk about it.

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And, in case you missed it, here’s Coach Smart following VCU’s win over George Washington Saturday.

SHAKA SMART MEDIA MINUTES (JAN. 19)

With Saint Louis on the horizon, Shaka Smart looks back on Saturday’s win at Duquesne, talks about Treveon Graham’s health and sizes up the Billikens.

RAMS COUNTER-PUNCH IN BUDDING A-10 RIVALRY

Briante Weber provided 13 points and four steals in VCU’s win Saturday.

RICHMOND, Va. – They call him the Freight Train, and that’s what Treveon Graham resembled as his 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame rumbled down the sideline midway through the second half Saturday night.

Graham was chasing down a rebound, and despite his heft, the junior guard slipped past two Saint Louis players, grabbed the ball at midcourt and drew a hip-check foul. His momentum carried him into the path of 5-foot-9 VCU Coach Shaka Smart, who corralled him with an enthusiastic bear hug. The normally stoic Graham broke character and flashed a healthy smile.

It turns out, Smart was about the only person who could catch a Ram Saturday night. Saint Louis, ranked 10^th in the country, certainly could not, as VCU staged a wire-to-wire 67-56 victory behind an opportunistic defense and a 49^th straight sellout crowd at the Verizon Wireless Arena that lurched towards frenzy at every opportunity.

The victory was meaningful on a number of levels, for history – it was the highest-ranked team VCU had ever defeated at home – for the Rams’ NCAA Tournament resume, for its Atlantic 10 seeding, but it may have mattered most for pride. Since the Rams joined the A-10 last season, the Billikens were the only remaining member of the league VCU hadn’t cracked. Saint Louis defeated the Rams twice last season, once in St. Louis and once for the A-10 crown in Brooklyn, and then again at the Billikens’ Chaifetz arena on Feb. 15.

“It was definitely important. We had a mindset of payback from last year when they beat us in the championship game. Of course that’s always on our mind,” admitted junior guard Briante Weber, who provided 13 points and four of VCU’s 12 steals. “They had yet to come to VCU, and we wanted to give them the impression of what VCU’s like when you come in here.”

VCU upset 10th-ranked Saint Louis Saturday night before the 49th-straight sellout at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Siegel Center,

Amid a pulsating sea of gold – the product of an advertised “Gold Out” – VCU (22-7, 10-4 A-10) whipped itself into an aggressive, defiant state.

VIDEO: VCU UPENDS NO. 10 SAINT LOUIS

HIGHLIGHTS

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SHAKA SMART

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JIM CREWS

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VCU PLAYERS

A PREVIEW AND A HAPPY VALENTINE’S

First and foremost, the task at hand. Saint Louis looms Saturday at 2 p.m. It’s a huge game on a huge network (regular ESPN), with huge announcers (Bob Knight – who doesn’t really know who VCU is, but whatever), with huge implications. (INSERTING CLICHE…) This is what college basketball is all about. I’m on the road with women’s hoops on a D.C. to Rhode Island jaunt interrupted by snowstorm Skippy, or whatever they’re calling this one. Anyway, Seth Greenberg took a minute to preview Saturday’s tilt, and District Baller took a few minutes to YouTube it, so you should take a few minutes and watch.

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It’s also Valentine’s Day, and I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the love-fest that is VCU. That was probably never more apparent Wednesday, when you guys mushed and snowshoed your way to pack The Stu tighter than the ski lodge right after the final run of the day.

So let’s celebrate Valentine’s Day, VCU style. The good thing is we have great fans here who love photography and love Photoshop. So, here are some VCU-themed Valentine’s brought to you by Chris “Pavarotti” Crowley, who might as well work for this blog with how much content he generates, and a few great photos by Will Weaver.

RAMS STAND TALL ON A-10 SUCCESS, NCAA FUTURE

Shaka Smart said Sunday he’s proud of VCU’s performance in the A-10 this season.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – As Shaka Smart spoke, his voice betrayed him. After three emotional Atlantic 10 Tournament games, it cracked and wheezed. Much like his team, Smart left everything, including his voice, on the Barclays Center floor.

The Rams stellar inaugural A-10 season came to a close Sunday in an emotional 62-56 loss to Saint Louis in the league’s championship game. VCU, which had been overrun by a poised Billikens team in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago, battled until the final horn. The Rams refused to let Saint Louis walk to a title with a repeat performance.

But an A-10 title was not in the cards for the Rams this year. That honor goes to a tough Saint Louis team that overcame the death of its coach, Rick Majerus, earlier this year and banded together. The Billikens came into the game ranked 16th nationally, and they’re at least that good, if not better. The Rams can keep the chins high.

“We came at them, they took a punch from us. They responded, and that’s why they’re the champions,” said Smart afterwards.