VCU welcomes Daaaa Bears from Morgan State to the Siegel Center this Saturday night, a MEAC team looking for their first DI win of the season when they head to Richmond. A 17-point kenpom favorite, the Rams need a big win (as in 20+ points) to continue their metrics climb up the computer ranks, currently sitting as 91st in the country after starting 94th in kenpom.com's rankings. The game also marks the return of former Rams big man, Lewis "The Djonk Yard Dog" Djonkam to the Stu, a 6'9 center who was a part of Mike Rhoades' first recruiting class as the Head Coach of VCU, before transferring to Radford prior to this final year at Morgan State.
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VCU (1-0)
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VCU (1-0)
MORGAN STATE (1-1)[/HEADING=3]
A QUICK LOOK AT MORGAN STATE[/HEADING=3]
Finishing fourth in last year's MEAC standings, Morgan State hopes to climb their conference rankings under fourth-year head coach, Kevin Broadus, but first they'll attempt to sharpen their sword against a challenging non-conference schedule that includes the likes of Xavier, Arizona and VCU. Their regular season opener against Sean Miller's Xavier squad went about as you'd expect, which is to say a 23-point loss that actually looks a bit better than the 32-point deficit they saw late in the game before X coasted to victory. The Bears were dominated every way in that contest, but did manage to turn Xavier over 20 times, something VCU had struggled with offensively this past season.
Morgan State played 10 players double-digit minutes in their season opener, so they are clearly not afraid to use their bench, something that could help them against VCU depth and relentless press. The Bears bounced back with a lower division win against Penn State Allegheny, 130-49. Against DI opponents however, they went 11-15 this past season thanks to one of the worst offenses in the country. They were one of the worst shooting teams in the nation and against their one DI game this season, haven't looked improved so far.
Defensively they weren't much better, ranking 230th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. What helped keep that number from looking much worse was the nation's 13th-ranked turnover defense. Many of those players have returned, with Morgan State starting four seniors and a junior. Can they wreak some of that havoc on the team perhaps best known for turning teams over tonight in the Siegel Center?
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
VCU made relative easy work of a depleted Manhattan squad this past week, but ended the game on a bit of a down note following an ugly second half. The Rams took an 18-point lead into the half before being outscored by one during the second half of the contest. Ace Baldwin was sensational all night though, scoring 15 points to go with a game-high nine assists to just one turnover. The Rams were just on another level when Baldwin was on the court, but they'll have to continue that type of play when he sits this evening against Morgan State.
VCU's "havoc" was on full display in game-1, turning over the Jaspers an insane 27 times, which currently puts the Rams at second nationally in defensive steals percentage and third in overall turnover percentage. That's nothing new on Broad St however, what Ram fans will hope to see join that is some consistent offense. Last year's team actually shot the ball fairly well, ranking a respectable 107th nationally in effective field goal percentage offense. Ram fans would love to see an improvement on that, but with that, a massive improvement in turnover offense. Last year's Rams were one of the most turnover-prone teams in the nation (341st nationally in turnover percentage offense). The Rams had 14 turnovers against Manhattan, but on paper appear to get a much bigger test there this evening against Morgan State.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 101.5, VCU 73</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 56, MOR 72.5</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 50%, MOR 40.7%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 55.6%, VCU 57.3%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 33.3%, MOR 29.4%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 35.7%, MOR 35.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%:<span style="color: #339966;"> VCU 51.1%, MAN 50%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">VCU 50%, MOR 39.6%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 36, VCU 33</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 19.1%, MOR 22.1%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 36.9%, MOR 24.6%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
CLEARLY winning the turnover battle is a key part of this game seeing how it is effectively the strength of each group, but after that, I'd like to see VCU's defense not get cooked when they aren't creating turnovers. When Manhattan wasn't coughing up the ball (credit to VCU for that), they finished with a 57.3% effective field goal percentage, which is waaay to high for a VCU program that ranked 4th nationally in EFG% defense this past season at 44.9%. So that's something I'll really be watching in this one and quite frankly Morgan State is a team you NEED to be limiting to those types of numbers.
Kenpom: 80-63 VCU loss with a 94% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 7PM at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA
Watch: MASN, ESPN+
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>
Finishing fourth in last year's MEAC standings, Morgan State hopes to climb their conference rankings under fourth-year head coach, Kevin Broadus, but first they'll attempt to sharpen their sword against a challenging non-conference schedule that includes the likes of Xavier, Arizona and VCU. Their regular season opener against Sean Miller's Xavier squad went about as you'd expect, which is to say a 23-point loss that actually looks a bit better than the 32-point deficit they saw late in the game before X coasted to victory. The Bears were dominated every way in that contest, but did manage to turn Xavier over 20 times, something VCU had struggled with offensively this past season.
Morgan State played 10 players double-digit minutes in their season opener, so they are clearly not afraid to use their bench, something that could help them against VCU depth and relentless press. The Bears bounced back with a lower division win against Penn State Allegheny, 130-49. Against DI opponents however, they went 11-15 this past season thanks to one of the worst offenses in the country. They were one of the worst shooting teams in the nation and against their one DI game this season, haven't looked improved so far.
Defensively they weren't much better, ranking 230th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. What helped keep that number from looking much worse was the nation's 13th-ranked turnover defense. Many of those players have returned, with Morgan State starting four seniors and a junior. Can they wreak some of that havoc on the team perhaps best known for turning teams over tonight in the Siegel Center?
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
VCU made relative easy work of a depleted Manhattan squad this past week, but ended the game on a bit of a down note following an ugly second half. The Rams took an 18-point lead into the half before being outscored by one during the second half of the contest. Ace Baldwin was sensational all night though, scoring 15 points to go with a game-high nine assists to just one turnover. The Rams were just on another level when Baldwin was on the court, but they'll have to continue that type of play when he sits this evening against Morgan State.
VCU's "havoc" was on full display in game-1, turning over the Jaspers an insane 27 times, which currently puts the Rams at second nationally in defensive steals percentage and third in overall turnover percentage. That's nothing new on Broad St however, what Ram fans will hope to see join that is some consistent offense. Last year's team actually shot the ball fairly well, ranking a respectable 107th nationally in effective field goal percentage offense. Ram fans would love to see an improvement on that, but with that, a massive improvement in turnover offense. Last year's Rams were one of the most turnover-prone teams in the nation (341st nationally in turnover percentage offense). The Rams had 14 turnovers against Manhattan, but on paper appear to get a much bigger test there this evening against Morgan State.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 101.5, VCU 73</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 56, MOR 72.5</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 50%, MOR 40.7%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 55.6%, VCU 57.3%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 33.3%, MOR 29.4%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 35.7%, MOR 35.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%:<span style="color: #339966;"> VCU 51.1%, MAN 50%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">VCU 50%, MOR 39.6%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 36, VCU 33</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 19.1%, MOR 22.1%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 36.9%, MOR 24.6%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
CLEARLY winning the turnover battle is a key part of this game seeing how it is effectively the strength of each group, but after that, I'd like to see VCU's defense not get cooked when they aren't creating turnovers. When Manhattan wasn't coughing up the ball (credit to VCU for that), they finished with a 57.3% effective field goal percentage, which is waaay to high for a VCU program that ranked 4th nationally in EFG% defense this past season at 44.9%. So that's something I'll really be watching in this one and quite frankly Morgan State is a team you NEED to be limiting to those types of numbers.
Kenpom: 80-63 VCU loss with a 94% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 7PM at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA
Watch: MASN, ESPN+
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: #ff0000;">MOR 101.5, VCU 73</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 56, MOR 72.5</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 50%, MOR 40.7%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 55.6%, VCU 57.3%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 33.3%, MOR 29.4%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 35.7%, MOR 35.7%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%:<span style="color: #339966;"> VCU 51.1%, MAN 50%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">VCU 50%, MOR 39.6%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #ff0000;">MOR 36, VCU 33</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 19.1%, MOR 22.1%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 36.9%, MOR 24.6%</span>
