RICHMOND, Va. — At some point every time UMass has played at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center, there’s seemingly been a moment, a stretch, when the Minutemen have struggled briefly and VCU smells blood.

It’s not just the Ram players. The crowd, led by the band, senses the opportunity and the whole building seems to smother the visiting team. The pressure wears a team down physically and the atmosphere shakes them mentally. It’s not just UMass. Many an opponent has succumbed to the VCU culture much the same way the Minutemen did in their 81-64 loss Saturday.

The building started to sense things late in the first half, when UMass went 4:49 without a field goal. But by halftime, capped by DeJon Jarreau’s driving layup at the buzzer, UMass had stemmed the home team’s increasing momentum despite sitting on the short end of a 33-29 score.

But only temporarily.

Rashaan Holloway’s dunk 2:29 into the second half looked like to would give UMass momentum as it brought the Minutemen within one, but Mo Alie-Cox answered with a dunk of his own at the other end, igniting a 10-2 surge that brought the building to life.

After the teams traded baskets to make it 54-43, VCU compiled a 7-1 mini-run to put the game out of reach at 61-44 with 9:29 remaining.

“Commend VCU, they have a very good home-court advantage and they play the game the way they want to play,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “I thought we competed with them for a while and we might have worn down a little bit. We made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes that they took advantage of.”

As the deficit got wider, the building louder, the Minutemen seemed rushed offensively, at times reacting to expected VCU defense that never came.

“I think we were bothered by their maturity, their physicality on the perimeter and sometimes the illusion that they were pressing or picking up slowed our guys down,” Kellogg said.

UMass played a lineup with two true big men for most of the game, but even that wasn’t enough to counteract VCU on the glass. The Rams dominated the rebounding contest, 45-32.

Holloway carried the Minutemen for much of the game with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, but didn’t get much help. C.J. Anderson contributed 12 points and 4 assists.

In the first half, both teams’ top scorer was neutralized as UMass held JeQuan Lewis scoreless and Donte Clark had just two. But in the second half, Lewis found the range and Clark never did. Lewis’ 17 second half points helped the Rams (13-3, 3-0 Atlantic 10) pull away, while Clark was held scoreless after intermission.

Clark (1-for-8), Luwane Pipkins (1-for-8, 4 points) and Jarreau (1-for-6) combined to shoot 3-for-22 (1-for-10 from 3-point range) and scored 10 points.

“We’re going to get there,” Kellogg said. “We’re going to keep grinding and working. Hopefully if we see them in the conference tournament it is a different game.”

UMass (10-6, 0-3 A-10) will try to snap its three-game A-10 losing streak Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Dayton at the Mullins Center in Amherst.