Rams topple No. 17 Sooners

At one point in the second half, Virginia Commonwealth forward Larry Sanders started mopping a wet spot on the floor.

Which was somewhat symbolic of the Rams' effort against Oklahoma last night.

Feeding off a sellout crowd of 7,257 at the Siegel Center, VCU outplayed, outhustled and outscrapped the 17th-ranked Sooners in an 82-69 victory that had the students storming the floor afterward.

This from a team coming off a puzzling 83-67 loss at Western Michigan. As much as that loss might hurt VCU's Rating Percentage Index down the road, this is the type of signature win that will help it immensely.

"I think it's really big," VCU coach Shaka Smart said. "We showed we have the ability to play with most anyone in the country. The guys on our team don't have to take a backseat to anybody."

VCU had several problem areas in the loss to Western Michigan, but few were evident last night.

The Rams led from the time Bradford Burgess took a backdoor pass and converted a three-point play 30 seconds into the game.

"I was really proud of our guys," Smart said. "It's not easy to have a lead for that long against a very, very good team that can make shots. Our guys stayed together. We've been talking about that for a while. I'm really, really starting to see some signs of leadership from [Sanders], Joey Rodriguez and Ed Nixon. That's a really good sign."

The Rams hit 6 of 9 3-pointers -- Jay Gavin buried two consecutive in transition -- while building a 13-point lead in the early going.

They battled through foul trouble to the 6-11 Sanders and stretched the margin to 17 with 4:16 left in the half. After Oklahoma (2-1) cut it to 10 at halftime, the Rams never wavered.

"Our intensity level was just through the roof," said Gavin, who had 20 points and hit 4 of 8 3-pointers. "We came out tonight, we played together and focused on the defensive end for 40 minutes. We knew they were going to make a run, but we figured if we sat down and guarded that we'd be fine."

VCU came out of halftime with a 5-0 run. Sanders, who hit a 3-pointer in the first half, began to assert himself.

He had 12 of his 17 points -- including a couple of alley-oop slam dunks that sent the house into a frenzy -- in the second half.

Along with some big-time 3-pointers from Gavin and balance from Nixon (10 points), Burgess (nine) and T.J. Gwynn (eight), Oklahoma never got the lead under 10 points. That didn't come until the final minute.

Sooners star Willie Warren, meanwhile, struggled shooting (3 for 14) and with second-half cramps. The probable first-round NBA draft pick had eight points.

"I knew coming in we weren't as good as everyone had us," said Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel. "I know we're a work in progress. But I think we're going to be good.

"They beat us to all of the 50-50 balls. They were the first team on the floor. I talked to our guys about the environment, but also I knew they wouldn't take well to the loss they had at Western Michigan. This program has a history of bouncing back from a loss. They certainly did that tonight and played with a passion I didn't see as I watched the game at Western Michigan. The big part of that was the crowd here. These guys feed off the crowd."

Capel, who coached at VCU for four seasons before moving to Oklahoma, received a pleasant reception before the game.

"This was a great game for us," he said. "Great environment. Personally, it was really good to be back and see some people. Certainly I don't like the result, but this game will help us."

The Rams were 2-12 against ranked teams. Oklahoma was the first ranked team to venture into the Siegel Center.

OKLAHOMA (2-1)

3-point goals -- Oklahoma (5-26): Crocker 2-4, Pledger 2-10, Mason-Griffin 1-2, Davis 0-2, Warren 0-8. VCU (9-25): Gavin 4-8, Rozzell 2-3, Sanders 1-2, Nixon 1-3, Rodriguez 1-4, Burgess 0-2, Gwynn 0-3.

Turnovers -- Oklahoma (15): Warren 6, Gallon 4, Mason-Griffin 3, Crocker, Team. VCU (11): Gavin 3, Rodriguez 2, Theus 2, Rozzell 2, Burgess, Pishchalnikov.

Blocked shots -- Oklahoma (3): Wright, Crocker, Gallon. VCU (3): Sanders 3.

Steals -- Oklahoma (10): Davis 3, Pledger 3, Wright 2, Crocker 2. VCU (7): Rodriguez 2, Sanders, Burgess, Pishchalnikov, Rozzell, Nixon.

A -- N/A.