LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — De'Riante Jenkins had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and VCU rode its attacking defense to a big early lead to beat California 83-69 in the Maui Invitational on Tuesday.

VCU (3-2) lost its Maui opener 94-83 to Marquette after giving up 22 second-chance points and failing to get out on its perimeter shooters.

The Rams had no problems on defense or offense in running away from the Bears (2-3).

Using its constant pressure to rattle the young Bears, VCU built a 26-point halftime lead and never looked back behind a rash of layups and 3-pointers.

The Rams forced 18 turnovers and outscored the Bears 29-10 in fast-break points to earn a spot in the Maui Invitational fifth-place game. VCU shot 50 percent and made 12 of 29 from 3-point range.

Don Coleman had 21 points to lead the Bears, who played better in the second half but never recovered from VCU's early onslaught.

Cal appeared to be headed to the semifinals, building an 18-point lead over No. 6 Wichita State early in the second half of the opening game. The Bears are young, though, and became flustered when the Shockers turned to a full-court press, leading to a 92-82 loss.

That didn't bode well for their second game.

VCU has a new coach in Will Wade, but the same philosophy: Speed teams up and into mistakes with its "Havoc" defense.

The Rams did just that early against Cal, forcing four turnovers while opening the game on a 12-2 run.

VCU maintained the pressure and the Bears kept succumbing to it as the lead continued to grow.

The Rams forced 12 turnovers in the first half and scored 20 fast-break points to lead 55-29. Jenkins had 16 points and VCU was 10 of 19 from 3-point range at halftime.

VCU kept the lead around 20 for most of the second half.

THE TAKEAWAY

VCU was much better on the boards than its opener and was far better defensively, quickly turning its second Maui game into a rout.

Cal needs to find a way to handle defensive pressure or it could be a long first season under coach Wyking Jones.

UP NEXT

Cal faces the Michigan-Chaminade loser in the seventh-place game.