HAMPTON—It wasn’t exactly Tylenol-free, but Virginia Commonwealth was able to avoid an Oklahoma hangover last night. Two days after whipping the 17th-ranked Sooners, the Rams had to work to overcome impatient shooting, sloppy turnovers and some malaise to shake off Hampton 63-52. “It certainly wasn’t the prettiest of victories,“ VCU coach Shaka Smart said, “but it was a ‘W.‘“

Virginia Commonwealth forward Larry Sanders celebrated his 21st birthday Saturday night, the same time the Rams were celebrating an 82-69 victory over 17th-ranked Oklahoma at the Siegel Center. There won’t be much time to savor either happening. The Rams (2-1) need to come down from the stratosphere quickly because they have to travel to Hampton (0-2) tonight.

Joey Rodriguez and the Virginia Commonwealth basketball team got a text message from Eric Maynor at 8 a.m. yesterday. “Time to get up,“ it read in part. “It’s game day. You guys get ready.“

In practice, Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart puts 14 seconds on the shot clock. If the side that is on offense does not get up a shot in that time, it becomes a turnover. “If it’s your shot,“ VCU guard Brandon Rozzell, “we want it to go up.“

Virginia Commonwealth junior forward Larry Sanders is one of 50 players named to the watch list for the Naismith Trophy. The award is presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the nation’s top collegiate men’s basketball player. Also on the list are Benedictine graduate Ed Davis, a sophomore forward at North Carolina, and Virginia sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg. There are 13 sophomores on the list.

Delaware basketball coach Monte Ross wanted to pass along a message to Virginia Commonwealth forward Larry Sanders. “Make sure you tell him that I picked him [for preseason Colonial Athletic Association player of the year],“ Ross said with a laugh. Sanders is a potential first-round NBA draft pick after this season. Ross wanted to make sure he didn’t provide the 6-11 junior with perceived ammunition after co-player-of-the-year honors went to Old Dominion senior forward Gerald Lee and Hofstra junior guard Charles Jenkins at yesterday’s CAA media gathering.

The Rams have four starters returning from last year’s 24-10 team that went to the NCAA tournament but will be without CAA player of the year Eric Maynor, now in the NBA.

Forward Jamie Skeen’s first game with Virginia Commonwealth will be at Tulane on Dec. 19. Skeen, who transferred from Wake Forest, must sit out the first semester per NCAA transfer rules. He will miss the first eight games. The 6-9, 245-pound junior was a top 100 recruit out of high school. He played two seasons at Wake, averaging 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Basketball player Larry Sanders has a hearing scheduled for next Friday in Richmond General District Court on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of state property. Sanders damaged a door while horsing around at Ackell Residence Center on March 27, according to VCU Athletics Director Norwood Teague, speaking for university police. Teague said Sanders paid for the damage to the door, an amount that came to about $150.

The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams battled back from a double-digit deficit but lost to UCLA by a single point in their first round game in the East Region of the men’s NCAA basktball Tournament in Philadelphia.

Where: Wachovia Center (cap. 21,600), Philadelphia On the air: TV - CBS; radio - WBBT (107.3), 9:20 p.m.
  Projected starting lineups:
  Notable: VCU (24-9), the Colonial Athletic Association champ, is seeded 11th in the East Region. UCLA (25-8), ranked 18th in The Associated Press poll, is seeded sixth. . . . The Rams are making their second appearance in three years and ninth overall in the NCAA tournament. They are 5-8 and have not advanced past the second round. Only two players - Maynor and junior forward T.J. Gwynn - remain from VCU’s 2007 NCAA tournament team. . . . UCLA has won 11 national championships - the most recent in 1995 - and is making its 43rd appearance in the tournament (98-35). The Bruins have played in the past three Final Fours and 18 overall. They lost three starters to the NBA after last season but had a recruiting class rated the best in the country, including McDonald’s All-Americans Holiday and Malcolm Lee. . . . VCU averages 72 points and allows 63.4. UCLA averages 76 points and allows 63.3. The Bruins rank second in Division in field goal percentage (49.4) and 15th in 3-point percentage (39.8). . . . The teams have never met.

Sanders’ growth helpful to Rams In watching Maynor, scouts got an eyeful of sophomore center Two-for-one deals greeted NBA scouts who dropped by Virginia Commonwealth University this season. The main attraction was senior point guard Eric Maynor, who is projected to be a first-round pick in June. The bonus was watching 6-10 sophomore Larry Sanders, who is rapidly developing into a future first-round pick.

Just like two years ago, Eric Maynor says he and his VCU teammates won’t be looking at the name on the opponent’s jersey in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Boise, Dayton, Greensboro, Kansas City, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Portland represent the eight sites where the first round of the NCAA tournament will be played next week. While Colonial Athletic Association champ Virginia Commonwealth is happy to go anywhere, one destination would have a homey feel. VCU coach Anthony Grant grew up in Miami and has family and friends there. He coached in Miami high schools before moving on to the college game.

As he stood next to Len Elmore of ESPN waiting to do a postgame interview last night, Larry Sanders leaned over to Virginia Commonwealth teammate Terrance Saintil and yelled above the crowd noise on the floor of the Coliseum. “I told you at the beginning of the year, we’re going dancing,“ he said to Saintil. Sanders did more than his share in helping the top-seeded Rams blow out No. 2 George Mason 71-50 in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship game.