The Rams travel to Davidson to take on the A-10 preseason No.3 in a matchup that could very well play a huge role in deciding the end-of-season No.1. Two of the most recent additions to the Atlantic 10, the programs have quickly established themselves as conference flagships, each winning a regular season and conference title as both have carried over their winning ways from their previous conferences. The duo will meet just once this season, making today's matchup a key game in potential tie-breaker scenarios heading into this year's conference tournament in Brooklyn.
<h4>VCU (11-4, 2-0)
DAVIDSON (11-4, 2-0)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT DAVIDSON</h4>
Finishing last season third in the A-10 conference standings, Davidson upset top-seeded Rhode Island to steal a NCAA tournament bid for the Atlantic 10. Those Cats struggled somewhat early, starting the season 5-7 before settling in in league play and running off a 13-5 A-10 record. This year's Cats are a younger group, but have so far at least in terms of record, jumped out to a better start than last year's team with A-10 POY, Peyton Aldridge, the key different being this year's Cats have won the games they should've won and for the most part, have avoided bad losses. The 2018-19 Wildcats have seen their offense take a step back without the versatile Aldridge but have, perhaps surprisingly, played better D despite a young front court anchored by a 6'10 freshman Center. Davidson's offensive "struggles", if you will, are almost entirely attributed to their inability to consistently hit threes so far, seeing their 38.9% three-point percentage from last season (28th nationally) drop to 32.7% so far this year (225th). That's a big problem for a team who takes almost half of their shots (48.5%) from beyond the three-point line. Davidson has hit just 22.2% of their threes so far in A-10 play.
Davidson has solid wins against the likes of Wichita State (fully healthy) and Northeastern, but are 0-3 in their three top-100 contests this season, losing by an average margin of 15 points per game in those contests. None however, were within the friendly confines of Davidson's Belk Arena, a place Davidson lost just one game in this past season.
Davidson is led by the backcourt duo of Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson. The duo combines for 36.1 points per contest despite the fact each has seen a dip in three-point efficiency from last season. They are a part of a lineup that plays a considerably shallow rotation that currently ranks 310th nationally in bench minutes.
Austrian freshman, Luka Brajkovic (11.8 ppg, 56.8% fg%) and redshirt freshman guard, Luke Frampton (10 ppg) round out the list of double-digit scorers in the rotation with 6'6 KiShawn Pritchett getting a ton of burn as a small ball power forward and 6'3 sophomore, Carter Collins (40% 3p%) completing Davidson's starting lineup.
Depth is a legit issue with this team, so if the Rams can get any key piece in foul trouble, that could be a major advantage for VCU in today's road contest.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
After a miserable quarter of action this past week against La Salle, the Rams settled down, settled in and pulled of a home comeback win despite trailing the Explorers by as many as 18 points in VCU's second conference win of the season. The game highlighted VCU's ceiling and floor within a span of 40 minutes.
The Rams gave up 25 points the first 10 minutes of the game, scoring just 10 points themselves, then went on to limit La Salle to just 38 points the remaining 30 minutes of the contest while posting 59 themselves including a 41-point second half performance.
It was 10 minutes of attempted hero ball, guys attempting to erase the La Salle lead all by themselves, followed by 30 minutes of team ball. The difference was stark and one that hopefully will leave a lasting impressions on this year's group.
VCU has been one of the best defenses not just in the A-10, but in the nation this season, ranking sixth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency at 0.889 points per possession. How good is that? Well, it's the best defense VCU has had since kenpom has been tracking that stat.
If the Rams can get any bit of a consistent offense to go with it, they will be deadly.
Two games of conference play suggests there may be some potential there, as the Rams rank third in the league thanks to an offense that currently checks in at No.1 in A-10 effective field goal percentage at 57.1%. It's early though and that's a sample that is pretty weighted due to a dominant performance against Fordham.
So much of those overall offensive numbers will fall on the shoulders of Marcus Evans, De'Riante Jenkins and Issac Vann, the teams' three highest volume players. Efficient shooting and a fairly clean turnover sheet from those three are ultimately what likely determines if this year's VCU team will be a good team or a great one.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
<h4>VCU (11-4, 2-0)
DAVIDSON (11-4, 2-0)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT DAVIDSON</h4>
Finishing last season third in the A-10 conference standings, Davidson upset top-seeded Rhode Island to steal a NCAA tournament bid for the Atlantic 10. Those Cats struggled somewhat early, starting the season 5-7 before settling in in league play and running off a 13-5 A-10 record. This year's Cats are a younger group, but have so far at least in terms of record, jumped out to a better start than last year's team with A-10 POY, Peyton Aldridge, the key different being this year's Cats have won the games they should've won and for the most part, have avoided bad losses. The 2018-19 Wildcats have seen their offense take a step back without the versatile Aldridge but have, perhaps surprisingly, played better D despite a young front court anchored by a 6'10 freshman Center. Davidson's offensive "struggles", if you will, are almost entirely attributed to their inability to consistently hit threes so far, seeing their 38.9% three-point percentage from last season (28th nationally) drop to 32.7% so far this year (225th). That's a big problem for a team who takes almost half of their shots (48.5%) from beyond the three-point line. Davidson has hit just 22.2% of their threes so far in A-10 play.
Davidson has solid wins against the likes of Wichita State (fully healthy) and Northeastern, but are 0-3 in their three top-100 contests this season, losing by an average margin of 15 points per game in those contests. None however, were within the friendly confines of Davidson's Belk Arena, a place Davidson lost just one game in this past season.
Davidson is led by the backcourt duo of Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson. The duo combines for 36.1 points per contest despite the fact each has seen a dip in three-point efficiency from last season. They are a part of a lineup that plays a considerably shallow rotation that currently ranks 310th nationally in bench minutes.
Austrian freshman, Luka Brajkovic (11.8 ppg, 56.8% fg%) and redshirt freshman guard, Luke Frampton (10 ppg) round out the list of double-digit scorers in the rotation with 6'6 KiShawn Pritchett getting a ton of burn as a small ball power forward and 6'3 sophomore, Carter Collins (40% 3p%) completing Davidson's starting lineup.
Depth is a legit issue with this team, so if the Rams can get any key piece in foul trouble, that could be a major advantage for VCU in today's road contest.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
After a miserable quarter of action this past week against La Salle, the Rams settled down, settled in and pulled of a home comeback win despite trailing the Explorers by as many as 18 points in VCU's second conference win of the season. The game highlighted VCU's ceiling and floor within a span of 40 minutes.
The Rams gave up 25 points the first 10 minutes of the game, scoring just 10 points themselves, then went on to limit La Salle to just 38 points the remaining 30 minutes of the contest while posting 59 themselves including a 41-point second half performance.
It was 10 minutes of attempted hero ball, guys attempting to erase the La Salle lead all by themselves, followed by 30 minutes of team ball. The difference was stark and one that hopefully will leave a lasting impressions on this year's group.
VCU has been one of the best defenses not just in the A-10, but in the nation this season, ranking sixth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency at 0.889 points per possession. How good is that? Well, it's the best defense VCU has had since kenpom has been tracking that stat.
If the Rams can get any bit of a consistent offense to go with it, they will be deadly.
Two games of conference play suggests there may be some potential there, as the Rams rank third in the league thanks to an offense that currently checks in at No.1 in A-10 effective field goal percentage at 57.1%. It's early though and that's a sample that is pretty weighted due to a dominant performance against Fordham.
So much of those overall offensive numbers will fall on the shoulders of Marcus Evans, De'Riante Jenkins and Issac Vann, the teams' three highest volume players. Efficient shooting and a fairly clean turnover sheet from those three are ultimately what likely determines if this year's VCU team will be a good team or a great one.
