Finally...VCU v Richmond. The crosstown rivals will meet tonight for the first of what SHOULD (hopefully) be two matchups this season, the Rams heading into tonight's contest as the current Atlantic 10 No.1, taking on a Richmond Spiders team picked as the No.1 A-10 squad in the preseason. A win tonight would stretch VCU's current win streak to six while maintaining their hold on the top spot in the league standings. It will be Richmond's first DI matchup in almost a month, having last played a conference game all the way back on Jan 26th when the Spiders routed the Hawks of Saint Joseph's.
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VCU (15-4, 8-2)
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VCU (15-4, 8-2)
RICHMOND (11-4, 4-2)[/HEADING=3]
A QUICK LOOK AT RICHMOND[/HEADING=3]
Picked to win the conference this preseason, the Spiders have had a mixed bag of results so far this season. They cruised to victory early in the season against a Kentucky (6-13) team that has shown to be way less of a quality win than some expected they could be, but also boast a win over current kenpom No.9 Loyola Chicago, the Spiders' two non-conference top-100 victories. In conference they own two solid wins over Rhode Island (80-73) and Davidson (80-74) and came up just four points short of defeating St. Bonaventure, but threw in a weird home loss to La Salle that, when paired with an earlier L to No.170 Hofstra, has everyone somewhat in the dark as to which Richmond team will show up on any particular night.
The Spiders are lead by a very experienced senior group (10th most experienced team in the country) of Jacob Gilyard, Grant Golden, Blake Francis and Nathan Cayo, with juniors Matt Grace and Souleymane Koureissi chipping in double-digit minutes on occasion while versatile 6'7 sophomore, Tyler Burton, flashes the highest amount of future potential on the team.
Season-ending injuries to Nathan Cayo (preseason) and Tulane transfer, Connor Crabtree, have greatly limited their depth. Because of that the Spiders play one of the shallowest benches in the country, ranking 343th nationally in bench minutes on the year. Their experienced group however have mastered Coach Chris Mooney's Princeton hybrid offense and rank 23rd nationally heading into tonight's contest in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Spiders rank 8th in the nation's in turnover offense and 31st in the land in effective field goal percentage offense. Richmond can get hot from deep, but are insanely efficient inside the arc, finishing 55.9% inside the three-point line, good for 18th nationally. They lead the A-10 in conference only offensive efficiency and have hit a red-hot 37% of their threes as a team in A-10 games.
Defensively Richmond's experience has been of great help as well. While not elite, Richmond is a fringe top-100 offense (101st to be precise) thanks largely to some pesky guard play that sees them wreaking some havoc of their own, turning over opposing teams 22.3% of their possessions (33rd nationally). Jacob Gilyard leads that charge with a nation-leading (for qualified minutes) 5.7% steals percentage (note: Tre Clark was at an even better 6.3% before being dismissed from the University). When they aren't turning teams over however, they can be quite vulnerable inside the arc. Richmond ranks 311th nationally in two-point percentage defense and simply can not afford any foul trouble to starting center, Grant Golden.
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
VCU is a bit of the opposite of Richmond, having defense lead the way with just enough offense to get them to where they currently are in the season, which is to say the very top of the Atlantic 10 standings. The Rams rank 15th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency thanks to a D that has been elite at turning teams over and blocking shots. A huge part of that has been the ahead of schedule defense from the Rams' youth. Sophomore big, Hason Ward, ranks 6th nationally in blocks percentage while freshman point guard, Ace Baldwin, ranks 21st in the land in steals percentage D, joining sophomores Bones Hyland and Tre Clark in the national top-100 there. Defensively the Rams have been close to the pace of the 2019 black and gold squad that won the Atlantic 10 regular season crown.
Offensively VCU has been solid on the year, ranking 102nd nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Rams shooting and offensive rebounding has been solid all year, the only thing holding this VCU team back on that side of the ball has been a high level of turnovers. VCU has turned the ball over 20.9% of possessions on the year, good for 267th nationally.
Bones Hyland has led the Rams offensively all season and is on a five-game efficiency tear (coincidentally the length of VCU's current winning streak), posting a 100+ offensive rating in all of VCU's past five games. He is very much a candidate for A-10 Player of the Year this sophomore season and has seen his name in the first round already on 2021 NBA mock drafts. The Delaware native led VCU in their one win against the Spiders this past season, scoring a team-high 15 points via a 5-6 showing from beyond the three-point line.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 77.2, VCU 73.4</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 65, UofR 68.9</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 54.6%, VCU 51.2%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 46%, UofR 53%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 34.9%, VCU 34.3%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 30.6%, UofR 33.2%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 55.9%, VCU 51.1%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 46%, UofR 54.8%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 34.7, UofR 30.3%</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 15.1%, VCU 20.9%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.1%, UofR 22.3%</span>
<span style="color: #000000;">VCU WINS IF</span>[/HEADING=3]
The two keys I look for in this one is turnover margin and three-point shooting. Keeping Richmond under or near 30% from distance is crucial considering how easily they tend to carve defenses up inside the arc. If the Spiders are hitting from three on top of their usual consistency inside the arc it almost forces you to be near-perfect in every other aspect of the game. While "Havoc" is the brand of VCU and certainly it's something the Rams are good at, the turnover margin overall heading into tonight favors the Spiders. VCU can take it away with the best of them, but help negate that advantage often with a high turnover count on offense themselves. Richmond does not have the problem. The Spiders turn you over and don't do the same themselves, which is how they win the turnover margin by +12 against Rhody, +11 against Kentucky, +9 against Saint Josephs, etc. VCU needs to win that battle tonight to likely win this game.
Kenpom: 73-70 VCU win with a 59% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 7PM at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA
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>
Picked to win the conference this preseason, the Spiders have had a mixed bag of results so far this season. They cruised to victory early in the season against a Kentucky (6-13) team that has shown to be way less of a quality win than some expected they could be, but also boast a win over current kenpom No.9 Loyola Chicago, the Spiders' two non-conference top-100 victories. In conference they own two solid wins over Rhode Island (80-73) and Davidson (80-74) and came up just four points short of defeating St. Bonaventure, but threw in a weird home loss to La Salle that, when paired with an earlier L to No.170 Hofstra, has everyone somewhat in the dark as to which Richmond team will show up on any particular night.
The Spiders are lead by a very experienced senior group (10th most experienced team in the country) of Jacob Gilyard, Grant Golden, Blake Francis and Nathan Cayo, with juniors Matt Grace and Souleymane Koureissi chipping in double-digit minutes on occasion while versatile 6'7 sophomore, Tyler Burton, flashes the highest amount of future potential on the team.
Season-ending injuries to Nathan Cayo (preseason) and Tulane transfer, Connor Crabtree, have greatly limited their depth. Because of that the Spiders play one of the shallowest benches in the country, ranking 343th nationally in bench minutes on the year. Their experienced group however have mastered Coach Chris Mooney's Princeton hybrid offense and rank 23rd nationally heading into tonight's contest in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Spiders rank 8th in the nation's in turnover offense and 31st in the land in effective field goal percentage offense. Richmond can get hot from deep, but are insanely efficient inside the arc, finishing 55.9% inside the three-point line, good for 18th nationally. They lead the A-10 in conference only offensive efficiency and have hit a red-hot 37% of their threes as a team in A-10 games.
Defensively Richmond's experience has been of great help as well. While not elite, Richmond is a fringe top-100 offense (101st to be precise) thanks largely to some pesky guard play that sees them wreaking some havoc of their own, turning over opposing teams 22.3% of their possessions (33rd nationally). Jacob Gilyard leads that charge with a nation-leading (for qualified minutes) 5.7% steals percentage (note: Tre Clark was at an even better 6.3% before being dismissed from the University). When they aren't turning teams over however, they can be quite vulnerable inside the arc. Richmond ranks 311th nationally in two-point percentage defense and simply can not afford any foul trouble to starting center, Grant Golden.
A QUICK LOOK AT VCU[/HEADING=3]
VCU is a bit of the opposite of Richmond, having defense lead the way with just enough offense to get them to where they currently are in the season, which is to say the very top of the Atlantic 10 standings. The Rams rank 15th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency thanks to a D that has been elite at turning teams over and blocking shots. A huge part of that has been the ahead of schedule defense from the Rams' youth. Sophomore big, Hason Ward, ranks 6th nationally in blocks percentage while freshman point guard, Ace Baldwin, ranks 21st in the land in steals percentage D, joining sophomores Bones Hyland and Tre Clark in the national top-100 there. Defensively the Rams have been close to the pace of the 2019 black and gold squad that won the Atlantic 10 regular season crown.
Offensively VCU has been solid on the year, ranking 102nd nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Rams shooting and offensive rebounding has been solid all year, the only thing holding this VCU team back on that side of the ball has been a high level of turnovers. VCU has turned the ball over 20.9% of possessions on the year, good for 267th nationally.
Bones Hyland has led the Rams offensively all season and is on a five-game efficiency tear (coincidentally the length of VCU's current winning streak), posting a 100+ offensive rating in all of VCU's past five games. He is very much a candidate for A-10 Player of the Year this sophomore season and has seen his name in the first round already on 2021 NBA mock drafts. The Delaware native led VCU in their one win against the Spiders this past season, scoring a team-high 15 points via a 5-6 showing from beyond the three-point line.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
Scoring Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 77.2, VCU 73.4</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 65, UofR 68.9</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 54.6%, VCU 51.2%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 46%, UofR 53%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 34.9%, VCU 34.3%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 30.6%, UofR 33.2%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 55.9%, VCU 51.1%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 46%, UofR 54.8%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 34.7, UofR 30.3%</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 15.1%, VCU 20.9%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.1%, UofR 22.3%</span>
<span style="color: #000000;">VCU WINS IF</span>[/HEADING=3]
The two keys I look for in this one is turnover margin and three-point shooting. Keeping Richmond under or near 30% from distance is crucial considering how easily they tend to carve defenses up inside the arc. If the Spiders are hitting from three on top of their usual consistency inside the arc it almost forces you to be near-perfect in every other aspect of the game. While "Havoc" is the brand of VCU and certainly it's something the Rams are good at, the turnover margin overall heading into tonight favors the Spiders. VCU can take it away with the best of them, but help negate that advantage often with a high turnover count on offense themselves. Richmond does not have the problem. The Spiders turn you over and don't do the same themselves, which is how they win the turnover margin by +12 against Rhody, +11 against Kentucky, +9 against Saint Josephs, etc. VCU needs to win that battle tonight to likely win this game.
Kenpom: 73-70 VCU win with a 59% chance of a Rams victory.
Game tips at 7PM at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA
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: #ff0000;">UofR 77.2, VCU 73.4</span>
Scoring Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 65, UofR 68.9</span>
Effective Field Goal% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 54.6%, VCU 51.2%</span>
Effective Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 46%, UofR 53%</span>
3-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 34.9%, VCU 34.3%</span>
3-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 30.6%, UofR 33.2%</span>
2-Point Field Goal%: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 55.9%, VCU 51.1%</span>
2-Point Field Goal% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 46%, UofR 54.8%</span>
Rebounds per game: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 34.7, UofR 30.3%</span>
Turnover% Offense: <span style="color: #ff0000;">UofR 15.1%, VCU 20.9%</span>
Turnover% Defense: <span style="color: #339966;">VCU 25.1%, UofR 22.3%</span>
