Kenpom gave Sherod the MVP for this game but my eyes said that Golden was the key player. While the game was still in question the Spider offense ran through Golden, either with him attacking the basket or distributing out of the post. Francis struggled most the game but like Petey Buckets said his gravity forced VCU to stay home on Francis which opened things up for Golden and Sherod.
When things go bad for VCU they go really bad. If they don't turn defense into offense they have a hard time scoring. If they don't score they cant press/setup their defense. The spiral just continues, which is kinda funny because when they are rolling the same thing happens to the opposing team (see Bonas vs VCU the last two years). Not having Evans hurts their halfcourt offense. I really need to watch like 20-30 halfcourt VCU possessions to figure out what they try to do to create offense. It seems like they don't have much off ball movement and if they don't get a drive to the paint and a kickout there isn't much to the offense.