Georgetown Withstands VCU 84-80

VCU came into the week ranked tenth in the country and ranked first in our Mid-Major Madness Power 15; they left San Juan, Puerto Rico with a lackluster showing and a lot of people around the country asking if the Rams were overrated to start this young season.

After being crushed by Florida State and a lackluster win against Long Beach State, the Rams lost their second game of the week against a non-ranked opponent in a 84-80 contest against Georgetown. Today's game was a rematch of the Rams 2012 NCAA Tournament upset over the Hoyas.

VCU lead at halftime 30-29, but had no answer for D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera in the second half as he'd finish with 26 points and 4 steals. Shaka Smart club would lead by as much as five in the second half, but Markel Starks gave Georgetown the lead with 9:48 left and the Hoyas would never look back.

If Rams' fans are looking for something encouraging this week, it has to be the play of Briante Weber today in his new offensive role as the table-setter for Shaka Smart. Weber would finish today with a career high of 22 points and would also add 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

VCU will fly back to Richmond with a bit of soul searching to do on the early season. Will the Rams stay within the Top 25 poll? We'll find that out tomorrow.

The Rams next game will come Friday against former conference rival Northeastern, in a game that is still part of the scheduling agreement of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off event. VCU does have Boston College and Virginia Tech left, but the Rams have missed their chance to get a much wanted rematch versus ranked Michigan and top caliber power conference programs. Instead the Rams will play a slew of tough mid-major teams including Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Northern Iowa, and Stony Brook.