Tillman reaches 1,000, leads VCU past Winthrop 69-55 (Dec 19, 2017)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Justin Tillman had 22 points, his sixth-straight 20-plus game, and surpassed 1,000 points for his career, leading VCU to a 69-55 win over Winthrop on Tuesday night.

Mike'l Simms added 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and De'Riante Jenkins scored 13 with three 3s for the Rams (7-5). Tillman also had 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and 18th of his career.

Simms had 10 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, as VCU closed the first half with a 16-3 run that put the Rams up 34-19. Tillman had 14 points, while the Eagles missed all 11 of their 3s and shot just 21 percent before intermission.

Winthrop (6-5) made 6 of 8 shots to start the second half to get the deficit back to single digits and eventually closed within six on a dunk by Josh Ferguson before the midway point, but Simms hit a 3-pointer that pushed it to 12 with 9:12 to go and the difference remained in double figures.

Xavier Cooks had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Winthrop, which finished 3 of 25 behind the arc and shot 34 percent (20 of 59) overall.