Hot hand from Rodriguez sparks Rams’ rout

-- PHILADELPHIA -- He's not trying to hit home runs, which of course means they're coming in bunches.

Joey Rodriguez has been thinking about playing defense for the Virginia Commonwealth basketball team. He should be so forgetful about his offense more often.

Rodriguez continued to wield a hot hand, scoring 16 points on 4 of 5 3-pointers, and got plenty of help as VCU scorched Drexel in the second half in a 75-46 victory in a Colonial Athletic Association game last night.

This was the second straight rout for the Rams (3-1, 10-5), second straight complete game and the third straight productive scoring night for Rodriguez.

The 5-10 sophomore guard has poured in 54 points in his past three games. He's 19 for 27 from the field during that stretch, including 12 for 17 from behind the arc.

"Joey's made some shots in the last couple of games," VCU coach Anthony Grant said. "Call it the coach in me, but I really believe the big reason for that is because he's not focused on offense. He's really been challenged to go out and defend.

"Obviously it's great to have him shoot the basketball like he shot it. Every night we're not going to expect him to go 4 for 5 from the 3-point line and have 25 points like he did the other night against Wilmington, but every night he can bring the energy and focus like he did defensively."

Rodriguez, who was not a prolific 3-point shooter in high school, leads the CAA in 3-point percentage (49.3).

"I feel comfortable out there," he said. "Confidence, maybe? I'm doing the same stuff I've been doing. Eric's penetrating, and people are leaving [to help out], so I'm wide open. I'm just hitting the shots.

"Even today, my mindset was defending. Same thing against Wilmington. You come into the game and don't even think about offense, don't stress about it."

Maynor, an All-America candidate, ended a streak of 30 games with double-digit points. He finished with eight points and eight assists.

"You want Maynor to score all the points," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said, "but we shot so badly that we got ourselves in such bad transition that guys like Joey Rodriguez made open shots."

VCU used a 32-6 blitz in the first 12 minutes of the second half to quiet a loud crowd in tiny Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Larry Sanders finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Bradford Burgess had 13 points as the Rams spread out the scoring and hit 50.9 percent on their shots, including 9 of 12 from behind the arc.

"Coach told us at halftime that he's been talking about which team was going to come out in the second half," Burgess said, "the team that was going to let up all the 3s, all the high-percentage shots and play no defense, or the team of late where we've been consistent on the defensive end.

"We were consistent on the defensive end."

The Dragons (1-3, 5-8) were beyond woeful in the second half, shooting just 18.2 percent. They finished at 26.2 percent and were 12 of 24 at the free throw line.

Things got so bad that Flint said as he was working one of the officials about VCU fouling, the official told him his team was "playing soft."

"You know you're in trouble when the ref says that," he said.

VCU (3-1 CAA, 10-5)

3-point goals -- VCU (9-12) Rodriguez 4-5, Burgess 3-3, Kearse 1-3, Nixon 1-1. Drexel (2-10): Rodgers 0-1, Colds 1-1, Harris 1-3, Hawthorne 0-3, Lally 0-1, Mohl 0-1.

Turnovers -- VCU (12): Burgess 4, Maynor 2, Kearse 2, Nixon 2, Sanders, Rodriguez. Drexel (9): Tribbett 2, Colds, 2, Neisler, Harris, Hawthorne, Spencer, Givens.

Blocked shots -- VCU (9): Sanders 3, Pishchalnikov, Saintil, Kearse, Nixon. Drexel (5): Spencer 3, Harris 2.

Steals -- VCU (5): Maynor 2, Rozzell, Nixon, Sanders. Drexel (6): Hawthorne 2, Givens 2, Tribbett, Colds.

A -- 2,149.