http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/college/college_basketball/article/VCUB07_20090206-215811/200445/
Contain the fallout.
That's the mission that falls to the Virginia Commonwealth University basketball team tonight in the aftermath of Wednesday's potentially radioactive loss.
The Rams, seeking their third consecutive regular-season title in the Colonial Athletic Association, are tied for second place (9-3, 16-7). They could have been tied for first but instead are regrouping after an almost inexplicable 81-72 loss to UNC Wilmington, the conference's next-to-last-place team.
Now comes William and Mary (2-10, 7-15), which has last-place status but first-place psyche. Despite a season-long struggle, the Tribe knows it can beat the top teams. It just did, taking down league-leader Northeastern 68-63 on Wednesday.
The homecoming game, starting at 7:30 at the Siegel Center, is sold out.
"That's definitely the focus right now, not to let that game carry over to this game," VCU forward Larry Sanders said.
"I guess now we know you don't take any game for granted. . . . We know how hard it really is to win."
You have to wonder if VCU's psyche is shaken after the befuddling loss to the Seahawks and after losing two of its past three games. The Rams have fallen behind by double digits in the first half of three consecutive games. They were outworked and outplayed by a UNCW team they had beaten by 29 points a month ago.
VCU guard Joey Rodriguez said the Rams are OK and that he was itching to get back on the court right after the game. He called Thursday's practice, which focused exclusively on defense, "intense."
"We talked about some stuff from the game," he said. "I think people understand where [Coach Anthony Grant] is coming from, that hard work beats talent. You could see that.
"We can't have any more slip-ups. I know we've been saying that, but we can't have any more now."
William and Mary coach Tony Shaver has had to deal with the aftermath of confidence-sapping losses a lot this season. The Tribe had lost seven consecutive games before stunning Northeastern.
"Any time you lose, you lose a little bit of your soul," Shaver said. "The great thing about our team during this tough stretch -- and it's been tough -- is there hasn't been a day that we all haven't felt like today's the day it turns around for us. Hopefully, the other night is a breakthrough."
Shaver said the Tribe stopped talking about results and started focusing on little things.
"They weren't even basketball things," he said. "We went back and concentrated on simple things like sprinting to the bench after a timeout. Picking up your teammate after he takes a charge or he dives on the floor for a loose ball. The way you approach warmups prior to the game.
"I think because of those things we had a little bit different spirit about us on Wednesday. Now the task is to see if we can capture that the rest of the season."
Contact Tim Pearrell at (804) 649-6965 or tpearrell@timesdispatch.com .
