ESPN Men's Basketball

RICHMOND, Va. -- Troy Daniels scored 16 points and Virginia Commonwealth blitzed Alabama early with a 26-5 run, ruining former coach Anthony Grant's return to the Siegel Center with a 73-54 victory on Saturday.

Treveon Graham added 14 points and Melvin Johnson 12 for the Rams (7-3), who improved to 6-2 in games against schools from the six major power conferences on their floor. The Rams have also now beaten at least one school from each of the power conferences since Shaka Smart replaced Grant as coach four years ago.

Devonta Pollard led the Crimson Tide (6-3) with 13 points and Levi Randolph had 10. Alabama committed 13 turnovers, one more than its average for a whole game, by halftime and finished with 19 giveaways that led to 19 VCU points.

The Rams made their big run after Rodney Cooper's two free throws gave Alabama a 2-0 lead. Daniels and Graham scored eight apiece in the push, which took more than 13 minutes. It helped greatly that Alabama kept turning the ball over, and couldn't shoot. It's first field goal came just 9:18 before halftime.

The Tide closed to within 11 twice early in the second half, the last at 39-28 after Trevor Releford's driving hoop with 16:04 to play, and the sellout crowd grew quiet, fearful that the Rams' tendency to get a big lead on a team with its frenetic pace, then let up and let the opponent come back was surfacing.

It didn't happen this time. Rob Brandenburg, who finished with 10 points, followed with a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key for VCU, Jarred Guest hit a 15-footer after a turnover and the momentum was quickly back on the Rams' side.

Two free throws by Randolph pulled Alabama within 44-30, but Johnson, a freshman, and light-scoring D.J. Haley scored consecutive inside baskets for the Rams, Johnson drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner and Daniels made another 3, pushing the lead back to 54-32 with just 13 minutes remaining.

After a three-point play for Releford, Johnson and Daniels again made consecutive 3s for the Rams, pushing their lead to 60-35, and as the crowd erupted in glee, Smart was able to get lightly used big man David Hinton, the only holdover on the Rams' roster from Grant's tenure, into the game.

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