MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
By Chris Kowalczyk
12-7-09

VISIONS OF VALPO
VCU got exactly what it wanted on the final play of Saturday’s 75-74 loss to William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Except the basket, that is.  Those who watched the play might have recognized it as identical to the one Valparaiso used to upset Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

The Tribe’s David Schneider connected on a free throw with 3.1 seconds remaining to snap a 74-74 tie. T.J. Gwynn inbounded for the Rams and found Larry Sanders near midcourt with a high, looping baseball pass. The 6-11 Sanders corralled the ball and found Ed Nixon streaking up the right sideline. Nixon had a look at a wide-open 3-pointer, but couldn’t get it to fall as time expired.

Although Nixon was visibly disappointed after the game, VCU Head Coach Shaka Smart wouldn’t hesitate to call on the junior guard again.

“That final play, T.J. made a great pass. Larry made a great catch and a great pass and I’ll take that shot from Ed Nixon, in that situation, 100 out of 100 times,” Smart said.

Nixon’s teammate, Larry Sanders agreed with Smart’s assessment.

“It was executed perfectly,” Sanders said. “I’d pass it to Ed 10, 11 more times for that same shot in that same moment, because he can make that shot. “

Nixon finished with a career-high 18 points and knocked down 3-of-5 3-pointers.

NIXON 2.0
Saturday’s loss to William & Mary overshadowed an otherwise outstanding performance by Nixon. In addition to his 18 points, Nixon grabbed four rebounds and flushed a critical tomahawk dunk with 13 seconds remaining.

Nixon is clearly a different player this season. The 6-4 swingman is averaging 10.6 points and 3.0 rebounds this year, stark contrasts to his career marks of 2.9 points and 1.3 boards. Additionally, Nixon is shooting .511 from the field and is the Rams’ top 3-point gunner (.478). Entering this season, Nixon was shooting .245 (13-of-53) from 3-point range.

“Ed’s been terrific,” Smart said. “He’s really, really matured, even in the nine months since I’ve been at VCU. He’s bought into everything that we’ve trying to do as a team. He’s extremely unselfish. I want him to attack and play with freedom, and that’s what he’s been doing. He had a terrific game tonight, and that last shot doesn’t take away from that at all.”

THEUS A NO GO
Freshman point guard Darius Theus did not play against William & Mary. However, rookie shooting guard Troy Daniels did. Daniels had not played in the Rams’ previous four contests.

Three days earlier, Theus struggled in seven minutes against Rhode Island. That performance, combined with the Tribe’s style of play, led to Theus’ inactivity, according to Smart. It’s the first time this season Theus did not make an appearance.

“Darius is going to be a really good player for us. He needs to keep working on getting better,” Smart said. “I wanted to get Troy Daniels in the game early because I thought his shooting could really help us against their matchup, and he made a big shot in the first half. So, obviously, there’s only a limited amount of minutes to go around and Troy got some of the minutes that Darius would normally get.”

Daniels hit a 3-pointer in the first half and finished 1-of-2 in six minutes of play. When starting point guard Joey Rodriguez rested, sophomore Jay Gavin slid over to play the point.

GAVIN’S STRUGGLES
When the Rams upset then-No. 17 Oklahoma on Nov. 21, Gavin was at the epicenter of the VCU basketball universe. The sophomore scored a game-high 20 points and hit 4-of-8 3-pointers.

That performance seems like a very long time ago right now. In the three games since, Gavin is averaging 6.3 points, shooting .333 (6-of-18) from the field and .125 (1-of-8) from 3-point range.  Gavin was 1-of-7 from the field, including 1-of-5 from long distance, against William & Mary.

“I thought that he had some really good looks tonight that he didn’t knock down,” Smart said. “Jay’s a good shooter and you need good shooters to keep taking good shots and not get passive. He’s definitely somebody that we need to get going and somebody that’s important to us. When a shooter doesn’t have the ball falling for him, he’s got to find other ways to affect winning for his team, and that’s the case for any of our guys.”

SANDERS NOT SLOWING DOWN
Larry Sanders fought off sniffles and posted his third straight double-double Saturday with 14 points and 10 rebounds. It’s the third consecutive double-double for the 6-11 forward, the second time in his career he’s done that. Sanders also recorded three straight double-doubles in the final three games of last season, including an 18-point, 20-rebound, seven-block performance against George Mason in the CAA Championship Game.  Sanders has 17 career double-doubles and is tied with Phil Stinnie for sixth on VCU’s career list.

TRIBE IDLE
There’s no hotter team in the Colonial Athletic Association right now than William & Mary, which has won six straight, including the Saturday’s 75-74 win over the Rams. The last thing the Tribe needs right now is a break, but that’s exactly what they’re going to get. William & Mary will not play again until Dec. 19, when it hosts Vassar College. The break coincides with the school’s two weeks of fall semester finals.

“I guarantee you we’d like to keep playing,” Tribe Head Coach Tony Shaver said. “We’ve won six in a row and we’d love to keep playing. But, in some ways, physically for these guys it’ll be good. I might rest for a little bit, but unfortunately for these guys, they’ve got two weeks of brutal exams. It’ll be an important part of the year for them.”

VCU and William & Mary will face off again on Jan. 20 at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Siegel Center.

GUNSLINGING GWYNN
Senior forward T.J. Gwynn banged home a pair of 3-pointers against William & Mary and finished with 11 points. The 3-pointers are Gwynn’s first since he nailed one on Dec. 15, 2007 against Longwood.  

 Questions or comments? E-mail us at aroundthehorns@yahoo.com or look us up on Facebook.