“Havoc” is alive and well at Virginia Commonwealth University, even though its founder, former Coach Shaka Smart, has left for Austin, Texas.

In examining the Rams’ recent basketball statistics, you’d hardly suspect Coach Smart had been replaced by Coach Will Wade.

In a four-game sweep Dec. 22 to Jan. 2, the Rams — now 9-5 — outscored the visitors by an average of 21.2 points while making 49 steals and forcing 84 turnovers.

VCU’s defensive formula is all about “Havoc,” which describes a feverish defensive style that exhausts and frustrates foes, leading to turnovers and quick-strike scores.

Against the University of Buffalo, the Rams tormented the Bulls into 31 lost possessions in winning 90-69.

The Rams’ relentless harassment of George Mason University in a Jan. 2 game forced the Patriots to lose the handle 22 times against the Rams, who won 71-47.

Coach Wade is a former assistant coach under Coach Smart and he used a similar style during the past two seasons as head coach at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

At UT-C, he gave “Havoc” the name “Chaos.”

It adds up to same thing. In fact, when Coach Wade was introduced to VCU last spring, he delighted his audience saying, “Just so you know, ‘Havoc’ still lives here.” VCU actually filed in June with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to keep the name “Havoc” for itself.

Starting this week, VCU was first in the Atlantic 10 Conference in steals (10.6 per game) and in turnover margin (plus 6.2).

Overall, VCU began the week with 148 steals to its opponents’ 80, and has forced 252 turnovers compared to 166 of its own.

Also, thanks to senior guard Melvin Johnson, VCU also has a 105-80 edge in three-point baskets.

Johnson, out of St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J., is 53 for 116 (46 percent) behind the arc.

Something else unchanged is the Rams’ passionate following. The four home wins drew sellout crowds of 7,637 fans, increasing the string of consecutive full houses at the Siegel Center to 75.

The uproarious crowd only adds to all the confusion VCU causes with its wide array of frenzied full- and half-court defensive ploys. The wilder, more unscripted the action, the more the Rams fans enjoy it and the further the home team tends to pull away on the scoreboard.

Johnson hit four three-pointers and had 22 points against George Mason University to raise his career total to 1,291. That enables him to pass Danny Kottak and Chris Cheeks and move up to 21st place on the school’s all-time list.

Johnson has scored at least 20 points on seven occasions and averages 18.6 points.

Leading VCU in steals is reserve guard Doug Brooks with 24, despite playing just 17 minutes per game.

Brooks is the closest player Coach Wade’s version of “Havoc” has to VCU career steals leader Briante Weber of the VCU Class of 2015.

Second in VCU scoring, at 12.3, is Korey Billsbury, the senior transfer from Oral Roberts University. The Rams other transfer player, Ahmed Hamdy-Mohamed, had career highs of 16 points and eight rebounds in routing George Mason.

Junior JeQuan Lewis averages nine points while leading with 65 assists. The Tennessean had 16 assists and only four turnovers against University of North Florida on Dec. 30.  

The Rams are 8-1 at home and now need to establish their defense and all-round skills outside Richmond.

Next up is a trip to Missouri to play St. Louis University of the Atlantic-10 Conference on Sunday, Jan. 10. The 4 p.m. tipoff will be televised by NBC Sports Network.

VCU returns home Wednesday, Jan. 13, to face Fordham University in a 7 p.m. Atlantic-10 match at its always rocking home on Broad Street, where “Havoc” remains the trademark.