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Briante Weber suffers torn ACL in VCU's loss to Richmond

Briante Weber suffers torn ACL in VCU's loss to Richmond

Falling at home against its city rival wasn't the biggest loss 14th-ranked VCU suffered Saturday afternoon.

Much more worrisome is that the Rams have lost their senior point guard in the process.

A postgame MRI confirmed Briante Weber suffered a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus  late in the second half of VCU's 64-55 loss to Richmond when his right knee buckled as he jump stopped in the lane. The 6-foot-2 senior's decorated college career is now over because of the injury, leaving him just 12 steals shy of breaking the NCAA's all-time steals record.

Losing Weber is a huge blow to a VCU team that relies on his distributing ability on offense and his ball-hawking instincts defensively. Weber, the engine for VCU's swarming full-court pressure defense, leads the team in assists and leads the nation at 3.8 steals per game.

It was immediately clear Weber's injury was likely to be serious from the way his knee bent and from how long he remained on the floor. Weber was helped to the locker room and returned to the VCU bench for the last couple minutes of the game on crutches.

Weber's play has been a huge reason VCU entered Saturday's game with a 17-3 overall record and a two-game lead in the loss column in Atlantic 10 play. His value was on display Saturday even in a losing effort as he posted 11 points and six steals before getting hurt.

The absence of Weber likely means JeQuan Lewis will reenter the VCU starting lineup. Lewis, who averages 6.2 points and 2.5 assists off the bench, is a skilled offensive player but is not nearly the defensive menace Weber is.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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