VCU took the defending national champs to the brink in a Thanksgiving matchup, but came up just short late. They'll get a quick turnaround against another ranked opponent when matching up with Dan Hurley's 22nd-ranked UConn Huskies today in the Battle 4 Atlantist 3rd place game.
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VCU (3-3)
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VCU (3-3)
No.22 UCONN (5-1)[/HEADING=3]
A QUICK LOOK AT UCONN[/HEADING=3]
After a double-overtime thriller that saw the Huskies victorious against Auburn in the B4A quarterfinals, UConn once again found themselves in a battle, this time against Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. Unfortunately for Hurley and Co., the Big East squad came up on the losing end this time, watching their lead turn on them late in the 64-60 loss yesterday.
It was about a polar opposite performance from the previous day's contest. After connecting on 57.7% of their threes against the Tigers, UConn was held to just 12.5% from deep against State. Those back-to-back contests were the Huskies' first real challenges of the season, having played three kenpom sub-300 schools to start the season with their "toughest" game outside of that coming against No.273 LIU, a 53-point win for UConn.
Still, this Huskies squad isn't hard to predict. They return the vast majority of minutes and production from last year's squad that punched a ticket to the NCAA tournament. Gone is NBA draftee, James Bouknight, but back is a talented and experienced squad currently ranked top-25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and with that yet another serious challenge for a VCU team still trying to figure out what it's got with so much production missing from last year's team.
The Huskies are currently led by 6'9 big man, Adam Sanogo, who's chipping in a team-high 18.5 points for UConn. He's outpacing Rhode Island transfer, Tyrese Martin, a versatile 6'6 wing averaging 13.8 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds this season while hitting a lights out 46.2% from three.
As a team the Huskies are connecting on 39.7% of their threes, good for 26th nationally. That's up big from last year's 175th-ranked 3-point offense, helping take UConn from 216th in the country in effective field goal percentage last season to currently 64th. Still, it's hard to know just how improved UConn's offense will truly be following four games against DI bottom feeders, one offensive explosion against a good opponent and one 60-point night. VCU's nationally-ranked defense will hope to help bring UConn back down to Earth today.
Players to watch: The aforementioned Sonogo and Martin take a ton of shots for the Huskies and Sonogo is a shot-blocking menace as well, but it's senior Howard transfer, RJ Cole (13 ppg, 41.9% 3p%), who can give opponents serious nightmares when he's on. Cole was 5-10 from three in the win over Auburn and about half of his shots come from beyond the three-point arc.
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
What this year's VCU team lacks in finesse, they make up for in fight.
Despite 19 turnovers against the 6th-ranked team in the country, VCU was within four points of the defending national champs with a minute to play, but could not pull off the upset against Baylor. The Rams scored just 60 points against their Big 12 opponent, but held Baylor 17 points under their season effort and earned a little respect as an improving squad last night on ESPN.
Again, turnovers (-1 margin) and rebounds (-9) ultimately doomed the Rams, giving a team that typically doesn't need extra opportunities to beat you, just that. Vince Williams led the Rams with 17 points, but had five of those turnovers, tainting what was an otherwise strong performance. That just outpaced a 4-turnover night from Hason Ward, VCU's struggling big man who's offensive rating and true shooting percentages are down big time without the on-court connection he shared with both Ace Baldwin and Bones Hyland.
Ward is still very bit of the defensive menace Ram fans have grown to love, blocking 11.8% of opponents shots while on the floor this season, but his true shooting percentage has taken a 20% plunge from his freshman season, the Barbados native no longer seeing the easy dunks that once ran up his numbers, something VCU will hope to fix by conference play.
That issue however, could be a system flaw or again, a point guard issue. Freshman Stretch Armstrong clone, Jalen DeLoach, sits at 45.7% in the stat, 6'8 big Mikeal Brown-Jones is at 45.3% and 6'8 Providence transfer, Jimmy Nichols Jr., has seen his true shooting percentage dip over 12% from his previous season with the Fryers, down to 50.9% with the Rams. A trend to continue to watch, but also an area the Rams could see a big boost with the return of Baldwin to the lineup.
Key stat: KeShawn Curry ranks 10th on this Rams team in player efficiency rating and over box plus/minus, but is first in minutes played. The senior simply MUST improve his offensive efficiency as the team's most-played player. Curry played just shy of 27 minutes for the Rams in the loss to Baylor, finishing with a game-low -22 box plus/minus while his backup, freshman Nick Kern, finished with a team-best +13 box plus/minus, yet played just 14 minutes for the Rams.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 90.5, VCU 55.2</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 54.8, UCONN 63</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 54%, VCU 45.8%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 37.3%, UCONN 40.9%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 39.7%, VCU 29.5%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 22.7%, UCONN 30.6%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 56.3%, VCU 46.1%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 38.3%, VCU 39.1%</span>
Rebounds per game:<span style="color: #ff0000;"> UCONN44.5, VCU 32.5</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 17.2%, VCU 25.9%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.9%, UCONN 25.2%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
VCU ain't winnin' no beauty contests this season, so the uglier this game gets, the better. Michigan State showed that's been the best way to take down this Huskies team so far, locking down the UConn shooters from distance and winning the rebound battle. The Spartans came up victories despite finishing just 33.3% of their shots inside the arc, which should give some hope to this offensively-challenged Rams squad. But can VCU do enough in the hustles stats (namely rebounds) to pull this one and earn a surprising 2-1 Battle 4 Atlantis record? We'll find out within a few hours.
Kenpom: 68-60 VCU loss with a 22% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 1:30PM at the Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas
Watch: ESPN2
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>
After a double-overtime thriller that saw the Huskies victorious against Auburn in the B4A quarterfinals, UConn once again found themselves in a battle, this time against Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. Unfortunately for Hurley and Co., the Big East squad came up on the losing end this time, watching their lead turn on them late in the 64-60 loss yesterday.
It was about a polar opposite performance from the previous day's contest. After connecting on 57.7% of their threes against the Tigers, UConn was held to just 12.5% from deep against State. Those back-to-back contests were the Huskies' first real challenges of the season, having played three kenpom sub-300 schools to start the season with their "toughest" game outside of that coming against No.273 LIU, a 53-point win for UConn.
Still, this Huskies squad isn't hard to predict. They return the vast majority of minutes and production from last year's squad that punched a ticket to the NCAA tournament. Gone is NBA draftee, James Bouknight, but back is a talented and experienced squad currently ranked top-25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and with that yet another serious challenge for a VCU team still trying to figure out what it's got with so much production missing from last year's team.
The Huskies are currently led by 6'9 big man, Adam Sanogo, who's chipping in a team-high 18.5 points for UConn. He's outpacing Rhode Island transfer, Tyrese Martin, a versatile 6'6 wing averaging 13.8 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds this season while hitting a lights out 46.2% from three.
As a team the Huskies are connecting on 39.7% of their threes, good for 26th nationally. That's up big from last year's 175th-ranked 3-point offense, helping take UConn from 216th in the country in effective field goal percentage last season to currently 64th. Still, it's hard to know just how improved UConn's offense will truly be following four games against DI bottom feeders, one offensive explosion against a good opponent and one 60-point night. VCU's nationally-ranked defense will hope to help bring UConn back down to Earth today.
Players to watch: The aforementioned Sonogo and Martin take a ton of shots for the Huskies and Sonogo is a shot-blocking menace as well, but it's senior Howard transfer, RJ Cole (13 ppg, 41.9% 3p%), who can give opponents serious nightmares when he's on. Cole was 5-10 from three in the win over Auburn and about half of his shots come from beyond the three-point arc.
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
What this year's VCU team lacks in finesse, they make up for in fight.
Despite 19 turnovers against the 6th-ranked team in the country, VCU was within four points of the defending national champs with a minute to play, but could not pull off the upset against Baylor. The Rams scored just 60 points against their Big 12 opponent, but held Baylor 17 points under their season effort and earned a little respect as an improving squad last night on ESPN.
Again, turnovers (-1 margin) and rebounds (-9) ultimately doomed the Rams, giving a team that typically doesn't need extra opportunities to beat you, just that. Vince Williams led the Rams with 17 points, but had five of those turnovers, tainting what was an otherwise strong performance. That just outpaced a 4-turnover night from Hason Ward, VCU's struggling big man who's offensive rating and true shooting percentages are down big time without the on-court connection he shared with both Ace Baldwin and Bones Hyland.
Ward is still very bit of the defensive menace Ram fans have grown to love, blocking 11.8% of opponents shots while on the floor this season, but his true shooting percentage has taken a 20% plunge from his freshman season, the Barbados native no longer seeing the easy dunks that once ran up his numbers, something VCU will hope to fix by conference play.
That issue however, could be a system flaw or again, a point guard issue. Freshman Stretch Armstrong clone, Jalen DeLoach, sits at 45.7% in the stat, 6'8 big Mikeal Brown-Jones is at 45.3% and 6'8 Providence transfer, Jimmy Nichols Jr., has seen his true shooting percentage dip over 12% from his previous season with the Fryers, down to 50.9% with the Rams. A trend to continue to watch, but also an area the Rams could see a big boost with the return of Baldwin to the lineup.
Key stat: KeShawn Curry ranks 10th on this Rams team in player efficiency rating and over box plus/minus, but is first in minutes played. The senior simply MUST improve his offensive efficiency as the team's most-played player. Curry played just shy of 27 minutes for the Rams in the loss to Baylor, finishing with a game-low -22 box plus/minus while his backup, freshman Nick Kern, finished with a team-best +13 box plus/minus, yet played just 14 minutes for the Rams.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 90.5, VCU 55.2</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 54.8, UCONN 63</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 54%, VCU 45.8%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 37.3%, UCONN 40.9%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 39.7%, VCU 29.5%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 22.7%, UCONN 30.6%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 56.3%, VCU 46.1%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 38.3%, VCU 39.1%</span>
Rebounds per game:<span style="color: #ff0000;"> UCONN44.5, VCU 32.5</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 17.2%, VCU 25.9%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.9%, UCONN 25.2%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
VCU ain't winnin' no beauty contests this season, so the uglier this game gets, the better. Michigan State showed that's been the best way to take down this Huskies team so far, locking down the UConn shooters from distance and winning the rebound battle. The Spartans came up victories despite finishing just 33.3% of their shots inside the arc, which should give some hope to this offensively-challenged Rams squad. But can VCU do enough in the hustles stats (namely rebounds) to pull this one and earn a surprising 2-1 Battle 4 Atlantis record? We'll find out within a few hours.
Kenpom: 68-60 VCU loss with a 22% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 1:30PM at the Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas
Watch: ESPN2
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;">UCONN 90.5, VCU 55.2</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 54.8, UCONN 63</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 54%, VCU 45.8%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 37.3%, UCONN 40.9%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 39.7%, VCU 29.5%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 22.7%, UCONN 30.6%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 56.3%, VCU 46.1%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 38.3%, VCU 39.1%</span>
Rebounds per game:<span style="color: #ff0000;"> UCONN44.5, VCU 32.5</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UCONN 17.2%, VCU 25.9%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.9%, UCONN 25.2%</span>
