VCU saw their six-game winning streak come to an end in the form of an upset home loss to a St. Bonaventure this weekend in front of a sold out Siegel Center crowd. The timing couldn't be any worse too, with the Rams set to take on Davidson in a Belk Arena location that has been a tough place to win for the black and gold, followed up with a trip to current A-10 No.1, Saint Louis, before returning home to take on the A-10's highest NET-ranked team, Dayton. Can VCU sweep the Wildcats and get back on track in the hunt for an A-10 regular season title or will VCU lose their second straight in what has the potential to be a rough mid-conference play slide?
VCU RAMS (16-6, 7-2)
VCU RAMS (16-6, 7-2)
DAVIDSON WILDCATS (10-11, 3-6)[/HEADING=3]
A QUICK LOOK AT DAVIDSON[/HEADING=3]
We've had a chance to run through this once this season, so instead of a detailed report we'll stick to the bullet points. For starters, Davidson has not been able to recover from the talent losses they saw this offseason with the departure of several key pieces with mostly their three-point shooting taking the biggest hit. Because of that the defending A-10 regular season champs find themselves 13th in A-10 play with double the amount of losses (six) as they totaled all of last season in-conference. Of those six losses, three were at home. These however included losses to both Dayton (by 14) and SLU (by just four), which were pretty much to be expected, with a four-point L to Richmond as well. The Cats added a second loss to Dayton on the road, lost to VCU by 17 at the Siegel Center and came up a three shy of beating Mason in Fairfax.
But overall I guess the general point of me listing all those teams is to point out that that's a darn tough schedule. How many A-10 teams would lose twice to Dayton, lose at Home to Saint Louis and get crushed at VCU? The answer is most of them. That said, how many GOOD A-10 teams would lose at home to kenpom No.270 Northeastern and also drop one on the road at No.207 Delaware?
The Cats are clearly just down and in A-10 play at least, that seems to have everything to do with the offense where Davidson ranks 12th in the conference due to a 14th-ranked free throw rate and a dead-last three-point percentage of 26.8% in-conference. The Cats hit just 18.2% of their 11 threes at VCU, but were able to almost score at will inside the arc, finishing 64.3% of their twos with Sam Mennenga going 7-10 inside the arc for a game-high 12 points in just 25 minutes of action.
And that's what to look out for tonight. Can the Rams limit Mennenga's scoring inside and if so, can they do it without Foster Loyer getting hot from distance?
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
Overall the Rams have been rolling through A-10 play, but offensively definitely saw the wheels come off against a pesky St. Bonaventure team that many would tell you is as well of a coached team as you'll find in this conference. VCU scored just 58 points, their lowest output since a 47-point night at Memphis back in late November and it basically all had to do with VCU's inability to knock down threes (2-16 for 12.5%) and the front end of one-and-one's (VCU shot 55.6% from the free throw line, an absolute self-inflicted wound in what ended up as a three-point loss).
Can VCU's three-point shooters bounce back or will we see the beginning of an offensive slump more similar to what we saw in the non-confernce?
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 70, DAV 70.9</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 63.4, DAV 69</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 52.2%, 49.4%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 47.2%, DAV 50.2%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 35.1%, DAV 30.1%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 32.3%, VCU 32.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 51.9%, DAV 51.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 46.3%, DAV 51.2%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 32.9, VCU 32.5</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 16.8%, VCU 21.7%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 25%, DAV 18.1%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
The Rams made faaaaairly easy work of Davidson at the Siegel Center earlier this year, but in that game they hit an OUTRAGEOUS 62.5% of their threes and still "only" won by 17. I mean think about it, with the VCU defenses you have grown to know over the years, how large of a margin do you think VCU teams win by when they make 15 threes and only miss 9? That feels like a 30-point win. They also turned Davidson over 20 times in that game, so a 20-turnover contest plus a 62% three-point night you'd think was like a 30+ night.
So why wasn't it? Well, because VCU was bullied a bit in the paint. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Rams by eight and converted on 64.3% of their attempts inside the arc. Mennenga looked like Patrick Ewing that night, so with that, I think the key to tonight is really putting up a better team defensive effort inside the arc, while also keeping track of Loyer on the perimeter. Davidson has quite frankly been awful offensively in Atlantic 10 play, so here's to hoping the Rams can keep them looking that way tonight.
Oh, and you gotta hit your free throws.
Kenpom: 68-67 VCU loss with a 56% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 7PM at Belk Arena in Davidson, NC
Watch: CBS Sports Network
Listen: <a href="https://www.iheart.com/live/fox-sports-910-richmond-2461/?autoplay=true&pname=1248&campid=header&cid=index.html">Fox Sports 910 AM & 98.5 FM</a>
Live Tweets: <a href="https://twitter.com/vcuramnation">@VCURamNation</a>
We've had a chance to run through this once this season, so instead of a detailed report we'll stick to the bullet points. For starters, Davidson has not been able to recover from the talent losses they saw this offseason with the departure of several key pieces with mostly their three-point shooting taking the biggest hit. Because of that the defending A-10 regular season champs find themselves 13th in A-10 play with double the amount of losses (six) as they totaled all of last season in-conference. Of those six losses, three were at home. These however included losses to both Dayton (by 14) and SLU (by just four), which were pretty much to be expected, with a four-point L to Richmond as well. The Cats added a second loss to Dayton on the road, lost to VCU by 17 at the Siegel Center and came up a three shy of beating Mason in Fairfax.
But overall I guess the general point of me listing all those teams is to point out that that's a darn tough schedule. How many A-10 teams would lose twice to Dayton, lose at Home to Saint Louis and get crushed at VCU? The answer is most of them. That said, how many GOOD A-10 teams would lose at home to kenpom No.270 Northeastern and also drop one on the road at No.207 Delaware?
The Cats are clearly just down and in A-10 play at least, that seems to have everything to do with the offense where Davidson ranks 12th in the conference due to a 14th-ranked free throw rate and a dead-last three-point percentage of 26.8% in-conference. The Cats hit just 18.2% of their 11 threes at VCU, but were able to almost score at will inside the arc, finishing 64.3% of their twos with Sam Mennenga going 7-10 inside the arc for a game-high 12 points in just 25 minutes of action.
And that's what to look out for tonight. Can the Rams limit Mennenga's scoring inside and if so, can they do it without Foster Loyer getting hot from distance?
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
Overall the Rams have been rolling through A-10 play, but offensively definitely saw the wheels come off against a pesky St. Bonaventure team that many would tell you is as well of a coached team as you'll find in this conference. VCU scored just 58 points, their lowest output since a 47-point night at Memphis back in late November and it basically all had to do with VCU's inability to knock down threes (2-16 for 12.5%) and the front end of one-and-one's (VCU shot 55.6% from the free throw line, an absolute self-inflicted wound in what ended up as a three-point loss).
Can VCU's three-point shooters bounce back or will we see the beginning of an offensive slump more similar to what we saw in the non-confernce?
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 70, DAV 70.9</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 63.4, DAV 69</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 52.2%, 49.4%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 47.2%, DAV 50.2%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 35.1%, DAV 30.1%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 32.3%, VCU 32.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 51.9%, DAV 51.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 46.3%, DAV 51.2%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 32.9, VCU 32.5</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 16.8%, VCU 21.7%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 25%, DAV 18.1%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
The Rams made faaaaairly easy work of Davidson at the Siegel Center earlier this year, but in that game they hit an OUTRAGEOUS 62.5% of their threes and still "only" won by 17. I mean think about it, with the VCU defenses you have grown to know over the years, how large of a margin do you think VCU teams win by when they make 15 threes and only miss 9? That feels like a 30-point win. They also turned Davidson over 20 times in that game, so a 20-turnover contest plus a 62% three-point night you'd think was like a 30+ night.
So why wasn't it? Well, because VCU was bullied a bit in the paint. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Rams by eight and converted on 64.3% of their attempts inside the arc. Mennenga looked like Patrick Ewing that night, so with that, I think the key to tonight is really putting up a better team defensive effort inside the arc, while also keeping track of Loyer on the perimeter. Davidson has quite frankly been awful offensively in Atlantic 10 play, so here's to hoping the Rams can keep them looking that way tonight.
Oh, and you gotta hit your free throws.
Kenpom: 68-67 VCU loss with a 56% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 7PM at Belk Arena in Davidson, NC
Watch: CBS Sports Network
Listen: <a href="https://www.iheart.com/live/fox-sports-910-richmond-2461/?autoplay=true&pname=1248&campid=header&cid=index.html">Fox Sports 910 AM & 98.5 FM</a>
Live Tweets: <a href="https://twitter.com/vcuramnation">@VCURamNation</a>
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 70, DAV 70.9</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 63.4, DAV 69</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 52.2%, 49.4%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 47.2%, DAV 50.2%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 35.1%, DAV 30.1%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 32.3%, VCU 32.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 51.9%, DAV 51.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 46.3%, DAV 51.2%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 32.9, VCU 32.5</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">DAV 16.8%, VCU 21.7%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #008000;">VCU 25%, DAV 18.1%</span>
