For the third time this season the Rams will take on their crosstown rival, Richmond Spiders, this time in a win or go home format in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals. The Rams won both previous contests, first at Richmond by two points, then a much more comfortable Siegel Center victory, 77-57. VCU has ousted Richmond in all of their previous tournament matchups (2014, 2015 and 2017), but is this the time the experienced Spiders squad finally gets revenge?
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VCU (21-8, 14-4)
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VCU (21-8, 14-4)
RICHMOND (20-12, 10-8)[/HEADING=3]
A QUICK LOOK AT RICHMOND[/HEADING=3]
For most of last night's A-10 second round the Spiders looked like they weren't even going to be playing in this game, but like they did earlier in the season, erased a double-digit Rhode Island lead to seal the 64-59 win. The Spiders were destroyed on the glass, but thanks to a +15 free throw makes advantage, 18 Rhody turnovers and an extreme lack of a three-point threat from the Rams, managed to pull out the win. The Spiders went about seven players deep, playing start fifth-year point guard, Jacob Gilyard, the full 40 minutes of action and will have to quickly rest of for tonight's battle against an extremely deep VCU squad.
This experienced Spiders team has struggled in the past in Atlantic 10 tournaments, failing to advance past Friday in each of their previous March trips to this event. Richmond lost their first game this past season to Duquesne, barely beat Fordham before coming up just short against Saint Louis in 2019 (the 2020 tourney was canceled via COVID) and fell by six as freshman in a Friday matchup against St. Bonaventure. Chris Mooney's squad was picked second in the preseason thanks to so much experience on a team that was a top-100 squad the past two seasons (top-50 in 2020), but came of short of expectations in the regular season. A tourney ouster of their bitter rival however, would certainly quench the thirst of Spider fans who hasn't seen a win over VCU since Feb 15, 2020.
In conference this Richmond team could best be described as extremely mediocre. The Spiders ranked sixth in-conference in offensive efficiency and ninth on D. They are one of the worst rebounding teams in the conference, but help themselves by not turning the ball over, ranking tops in the A-10 in offensive turnover percentage. Defensively they have typically offered little resistance to their opponents, checking in at 11th in effective field goal percentage D and ranks second to last in blocks percentage. That may prove particularly helpful to a VCU team that ranks third in offensive effective field goal percentage.
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
VCU is hoping to work themselves onto the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble this weekend after failing to pull off a win at Saint Louis that would've given the black and gold the A-10's top seed, a huge road win and likely put them into the field at this point. The Rams won eight straight prior to that and would no doubt welcome another winning streak starting today.
The Rams rank fourth in the country in defensive efficiency are tops in the A-10 in that stat. Offensively they have shot the ball really well since the return of Ace Baldwin, but turnovers (VCU is the 11th worst turnover offense in the nation) have severely hurt their overall efficiency. The promising bit of that for the Rams is even when they are turning it over, VCU has managed to blowout some opponents. The black and gold beat St. Bonaventure by 23 despite turning it over 20 times, defeated UMass by 15 despite 17 turnovers, but would much rather avoid such scenarios like they did the last time they played the Spiders, downing Richmond by 20 in an 8-turnover VCU performance.
They'll also want to limit fouling. We saw how valuable that was to the Spiders last night (Richmond ranks fifth in free throw rate in the A-10) and this is a Rams squad that has been one of the 50 most foul-prone in the country.
Nine Rams played double-digit minutes against Richmond in their past matchup including Mikeal Brown-Jones who posted an impressive 11-point, 7-rebound line in just 11 minutes of action. MBJ has been one of VCU's best rebounders when on the court, so I'm curious to see what role he may have today against a poor rebounding Spiders team.
VCU will also have Marcus Tsohonis back for today's contest. The Washington transfer missed the Rams' last two contests due to concussion protocol, but his return sees another dangerous three-point option available for VCU today.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 72, VCU 66.1</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 60.8, UR 68.8</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 51.8%, VCU 50.8%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 43.5%, UR 50.4%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 34.2%, UR 33.6%</span>
<span style="color: #000000;">3-Point Field Goal% Defense:</span> <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 26.8%, UR 34.5%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 52.8%, VCU 50.6%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 45.3%, UR 49.7%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 32.7, UR 32.4</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 14.5%, VCU 22.1%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.5%, UR 19.1%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
Neither of these teams are particularly good at rebounding, so my eye is really on that turnover advantage. The Rams have the No.2 turnover D in the country, but are quite turnover prone offensively and will be bringing the ball up the court against the NCAA's all-time steals leader* (* because this is his fifth full year of basketball instead of the four years granted to previous record holders) in Jacob Gilyard. I also want to see if VCU can really lock down on D. The Rams gave up 62 points in their first meeting with the Spiders and 57 in their second. Quite good against an experienced group averaging 72 per contest. With VCU being the No.4 defense in the nation but getting NOT ONE player on this year's A-10 All-Defensive team, I'm curious to see how that fires up the Rams on D. An angry/motivated VCU defense doesn't seem like a fun one to play against, but Richmond is playing with a bit of house money in this one and have a game under their belt to have shaken any nerves, so I could also see the Rams trying to do TOO much defensively, which could result in a high foul count. Angry D plus a smart, methodical offense and the Rams could inch ever so closer to the right side of the bubble today.
Kenpom: 66-64 VCU win with a 60% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 8:30PM at Capital One Arena in Washington DC
Watch: USA 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>
For most of last night's A-10 second round the Spiders looked like they weren't even going to be playing in this game, but like they did earlier in the season, erased a double-digit Rhode Island lead to seal the 64-59 win. The Spiders were destroyed on the glass, but thanks to a +15 free throw makes advantage, 18 Rhody turnovers and an extreme lack of a three-point threat from the Rams, managed to pull out the win. The Spiders went about seven players deep, playing start fifth-year point guard, Jacob Gilyard, the full 40 minutes of action and will have to quickly rest of for tonight's battle against an extremely deep VCU squad.
This experienced Spiders team has struggled in the past in Atlantic 10 tournaments, failing to advance past Friday in each of their previous March trips to this event. Richmond lost their first game this past season to Duquesne, barely beat Fordham before coming up just short against Saint Louis in 2019 (the 2020 tourney was canceled via COVID) and fell by six as freshman in a Friday matchup against St. Bonaventure. Chris Mooney's squad was picked second in the preseason thanks to so much experience on a team that was a top-100 squad the past two seasons (top-50 in 2020), but came of short of expectations in the regular season. A tourney ouster of their bitter rival however, would certainly quench the thirst of Spider fans who hasn't seen a win over VCU since Feb 15, 2020.
In conference this Richmond team could best be described as extremely mediocre. The Spiders ranked sixth in-conference in offensive efficiency and ninth on D. They are one of the worst rebounding teams in the conference, but help themselves by not turning the ball over, ranking tops in the A-10 in offensive turnover percentage. Defensively they have typically offered little resistance to their opponents, checking in at 11th in effective field goal percentage D and ranks second to last in blocks percentage. That may prove particularly helpful to a VCU team that ranks third in offensive effective field goal percentage.
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
VCU is hoping to work themselves onto the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble this weekend after failing to pull off a win at Saint Louis that would've given the black and gold the A-10's top seed, a huge road win and likely put them into the field at this point. The Rams won eight straight prior to that and would no doubt welcome another winning streak starting today.
The Rams rank fourth in the country in defensive efficiency are tops in the A-10 in that stat. Offensively they have shot the ball really well since the return of Ace Baldwin, but turnovers (VCU is the 11th worst turnover offense in the nation) have severely hurt their overall efficiency. The promising bit of that for the Rams is even when they are turning it over, VCU has managed to blowout some opponents. The black and gold beat St. Bonaventure by 23 despite turning it over 20 times, defeated UMass by 15 despite 17 turnovers, but would much rather avoid such scenarios like they did the last time they played the Spiders, downing Richmond by 20 in an 8-turnover VCU performance.
They'll also want to limit fouling. We saw how valuable that was to the Spiders last night (Richmond ranks fifth in free throw rate in the A-10) and this is a Rams squad that has been one of the 50 most foul-prone in the country.
Nine Rams played double-digit minutes against Richmond in their past matchup including Mikeal Brown-Jones who posted an impressive 11-point, 7-rebound line in just 11 minutes of action. MBJ has been one of VCU's best rebounders when on the court, so I'm curious to see what role he may have today against a poor rebounding Spiders team.
VCU will also have Marcus Tsohonis back for today's contest. The Washington transfer missed the Rams' last two contests due to concussion protocol, but his return sees another dangerous three-point option available for VCU today.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 72, VCU 66.1</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 60.8, UR 68.8</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 51.8%, VCU 50.8%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 43.5%, UR 50.4%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 34.2%, UR 33.6%</span>
<span style="color: #000000;">3-Point Field Goal% Defense:</span> <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 26.8%, UR 34.5%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 52.8%, VCU 50.6%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 45.3%, UR 49.7%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 32.7, UR 32.4</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 14.5%, VCU 22.1%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.5%, UR 19.1%</span>
VCU WINS IF[/HEADING=3]
Neither of these teams are particularly good at rebounding, so my eye is really on that turnover advantage. The Rams have the No.2 turnover D in the country, but are quite turnover prone offensively and will be bringing the ball up the court against the NCAA's all-time steals leader* (* because this is his fifth full year of basketball instead of the four years granted to previous record holders) in Jacob Gilyard. I also want to see if VCU can really lock down on D. The Rams gave up 62 points in their first meeting with the Spiders and 57 in their second. Quite good against an experienced group averaging 72 per contest. With VCU being the No.4 defense in the nation but getting NOT ONE player on this year's A-10 All-Defensive team, I'm curious to see how that fires up the Rams on D. An angry/motivated VCU defense doesn't seem like a fun one to play against, but Richmond is playing with a bit of house money in this one and have a game under their belt to have shaken any nerves, so I could also see the Rams trying to do TOO much defensively, which could result in a high foul count. Angry D plus a smart, methodical offense and the Rams could inch ever so closer to the right side of the bubble today.
Kenpom: 66-64 VCU win with a 60% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 8:30PM at Capital One Arena in Washington DC
Watch: USA 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: #ff0000;">UR 72, VCU 66.1</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 60.8, UR 68.8</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 51.8%, VCU 50.8%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 43.5%, UR 50.4%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 34.2%, UR 33.6%</span>
<span style="color: #000000;">3-Point Field Goal% Defense:</span> <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 26.8%, UR 34.5%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 52.8%, VCU 50.6%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 45.3%, UR 49.7%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 32.7, UR 32.4</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UR 14.5%, VCU 22.1%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.5%, UR 19.1%</span>
