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In their loss to George Mason on Tuesday night, Virginia Commonwealth turned in an uncharacteristically weak defensive performance. The Patriots took over in the second half and cruised to a 12-point win that kept the CAA a two-team race. Rams coach Anthony Grant couldn't have been happy with that performance and must have done something about it in practice this week. Yesterday VCU was impenetrable during their 65-42 win against Towson.

Only one Tiger had more than six points and they made fewer shots than the Rams had steals. Towson was 14-of-55 from the floor while VCU stole the ball 17 times, including seven by Joey Rodriguez. Larry Sanders had seven blocks, which makes you wonder if the Tigers might have been better off just taking shot clock violations every time down the floor. The Commonwealth offense never took off, they shot just 36.8%, which is why the specter of Mason's win wasn't completely erased.

The Patriots turned in a defensive effort almost as impressive in their 72-46 win against James Madison and complemented it with an offensive showing that's beyond the Rams. Folarin Campbell had 20 points and John Vaughn scored 19 in a 53% showing from the floor. Their early season struggles look well behind them after a strong week.

GMU's offensive depth is unrivaled within the league, as is VCU's defensive prowess. When the CAA tournament final comes, it will be a shock and disappointment if we don't get a rematch between the league's best offense and its best defense.

When Maryland beat Morgan State on December 6, it was Gary Williams' 131st nonconference home win in 134 tries. When Maryland hosts Delaware on Friday, he'll take his third whack at number 132. After losing to Ohio, Williams and the Terps got beat in College Park again yesterday by their neighbors from American. That's a pretty rare occurance in the 80 year history between the two schools. The only other Eagles win was in their first meeting, sometime in the 1926-27 season. The exact date has escaped memory, something that's unlikely to happen with yesterday's 67-59 win.

Derrick Mercer won't soon forget his 18 points, for example, and Bryce Simon will always remember his career-high 17. None of the Eagles will forget holding the Terps to five first half baskets nor will they need reminders of the way they outhustled, outrebounded and outdefended their more heralded opponents. For a team that's lost to Fairfield and Loyola (MD), this win came out of left field and will have Williams pulling out his hair in search of answers.

Greivis Vasquez had 28 points and the other guard Eric Hayes had 16 but the rest of the Terps only made four baskets. Maryland was so flat and lifeless, though, that its pretty clear the problems go well beyond shooting. Williams benched Braxton Dupree and Landon Milbourne in the second half, probably the first of many changes in what's looking like a long season.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts: