National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
VCU 75, Xavier 71
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 23, 2013
Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials: # Bernard Clinton, # Jerry Heater, # Jeff Janosik
Attendance: 10039
No. 24 Virginia Commonwealth 75, Xavier 71: Troy Daniels poured in 19 points and the visiting Rams rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat Xavier.

Ohio native Rob Brandenberg scored 18 points, Treveon Graham added 17 and Juvonte Reddic had 10 for VCU (22-6, 10-3 A-10), which avoided its third two-game losing streak of the season.

Dee Davis and Brad Redford scored 15 apiece for the Musketeers (15-11, 8-5), who were trying to crack the top four in the Atlantic 10 standings. Xavier lost despite shooting 54.8 percent from the field.

Xavier led wire-to-wire in the first half, holding a 28-14 advantage at the break after limiting VCU to 30.3 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. The Musketeers widened the gap to 17 early in the second half, but VCU rallied to tie the game at 48 on Graham's 3-pointer with 12:18 remaining.

From there, the lead changed hands nine times down the stretch but VCU held a 69-65 advantage at the final media timeout. The Rams made just one field goal in the final four minutes, but Brandenberg sank four free throws in the last 26 seconds to preserve the victory.

GAME NOTEBOOK: VCU improved to 3-1 all-time against Xavier, but this was the first meeting since the Rams joined the Atlantic 10 prior to this season. ... Daniels hit five trifectas, the first of which set the VCU single-season record for 3-pointers. His fifth 3 of the game staked VCU to a 69-65 lead with 4:04 to go. ... VCU won the battle of the boards 32-29, becoming just the second Xavier opponent to outrebound the Musketeers in a 16-game span.
Top Game Performances
 
VCU   Xavier
Troy Daniels 19 Scoring Dee Davis 15
Darius Theus 4 Assists Semaj Christon 7
Juvonte Reddic 9 Rebounds Travis Taylor 9
Rob Brandenberg 5 Free Throws Made Dee Davis 5
Troy Daniels 4 Steals Dee Davis 2
Treveon Graham 1 Blocks Isaiah Philmore 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
VCU 75 41.5 8-28 13-18 9 29 1 12 11
Xavier 71 54.8 8-18 17-23 17 27 6 6 22