They say there's a thin line between love and hate and for VCU, that feels especially true today as Ram fans will either go to sleep happy tonight as an 8-4 team with good wins over Temple, Texas, Hofstra and Wichita State or bitter as a 7-5 team and losers of three consecutive contest, two at home. Huge game today.
<h4>VCU (7-4)
WICHITA STATE (7-4)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT WICHITA STATE</h4>
VCU's seven consecutive NCAA tourney appearance streak was snapped this past season in Coach Rhoades' first year on Broad Street and Greg Marshall's Shockers may be in danger of snapping a streak of the exact same length if this young Wichita State team can put things together quick. After entering last season's tourney as a No.4 seed with one of the most experienced teams in the country (13th according to kenpom), WSU said goodbye to six key seniors and a sophomore star who made his way to the NBA. The newly-built Shockers haven't been your typical Wichita squad under 12th-year head coach Gregg Marshall, going 7-4 to start the season, but are very much a danger to shock the Rams today, having already upset two top-100 teams and battled with two more before eventually falling to both Davidson and Alabama. WSU's offense has taken a giant step back from this past season, dropping from 4th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency to 133rd thanks to an early inability to efficiently put the ball in the hoop that Ram fans are all too familiar with. Defensively however Marshall's young Shockers have actually improved on last season's numbers, limiting teams to fewer points per possession through their first eleven contest than last season's squad. WSU is led by senior big and one-time VCU target, Markis McDuffie, a 6'8 do-it-all forward who leads the team at 19 point per contest and has been about the only consistently efficient highly-used player on the squad. He's joined in the paint by 6'11 Columbian bucket-getter, Jaime Echenique. The 258-pound junior is a load down low and has scored in double-digits in the past three contests, averaging 16 ppg over the last three in just 17.6 minutes per game. All three in wins. The Shockers do not hurt themselves, ranking in or near the top-100 in both turnover percentage offense and defense and help themselves anymore but attacking the glass. So far however they have needed those extra possessions, ranking 281st nationally in effective field goal percentage offense. Today's contest will be their first true road game of the season, a game that will likely see five WSU freshman play in front of a rabid Siegel Center audience.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
The Rams in many ways are like this year's Wichita State team but somewhat amplified. Where Wichita has been good defensively the Rams have been great. Where Wichita State has struggled offensively the Rams have somehow been worse. VCU's defense currently ranks top-10 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, the first time that has happened on Broad Street since 2014 and just the second time ever since kenpom has been tracking the stat. Twice however, the Rams have has that D tested by elite level guards, St. John's Shamorie Ponds scoring 35 of the Red Storm's 87 in a one-point overtime defeat, then most recently nationally underrated Grant Riller dumping 30 on VCU in an 83-79 College of Charleston upset of the black and gold last week. This year's WSU team hasn't had that type of player. They may eventually find guys become that, but no guard on Gregg Marshall's current roster has been within a galaxy of the types of players that have given this year's VCU team the most trouble. Where the Rams have struggled all season has been on offense, particularly from the three-point line. Long story short, three-point percentages are down virtually across the board, especially among current VCU starters. That lack of efficiency from deep on a team that likes to shoot a bunch of threes has really hurt the Rams early, including these last two contests that saw the Rams shoot below 23% from deep in two contests against good teams that were decided by single digits.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
<h4>VCU (7-4)
WICHITA STATE (7-4)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT WICHITA STATE</h4>
VCU's seven consecutive NCAA tourney appearance streak was snapped this past season in Coach Rhoades' first year on Broad Street and Greg Marshall's Shockers may be in danger of snapping a streak of the exact same length if this young Wichita State team can put things together quick. After entering last season's tourney as a No.4 seed with one of the most experienced teams in the country (13th according to kenpom), WSU said goodbye to six key seniors and a sophomore star who made his way to the NBA. The newly-built Shockers haven't been your typical Wichita squad under 12th-year head coach Gregg Marshall, going 7-4 to start the season, but are very much a danger to shock the Rams today, having already upset two top-100 teams and battled with two more before eventually falling to both Davidson and Alabama. WSU's offense has taken a giant step back from this past season, dropping from 4th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency to 133rd thanks to an early inability to efficiently put the ball in the hoop that Ram fans are all too familiar with. Defensively however Marshall's young Shockers have actually improved on last season's numbers, limiting teams to fewer points per possession through their first eleven contest than last season's squad. WSU is led by senior big and one-time VCU target, Markis McDuffie, a 6'8 do-it-all forward who leads the team at 19 point per contest and has been about the only consistently efficient highly-used player on the squad. He's joined in the paint by 6'11 Columbian bucket-getter, Jaime Echenique. The 258-pound junior is a load down low and has scored in double-digits in the past three contests, averaging 16 ppg over the last three in just 17.6 minutes per game. All three in wins. The Shockers do not hurt themselves, ranking in or near the top-100 in both turnover percentage offense and defense and help themselves anymore but attacking the glass. So far however they have needed those extra possessions, ranking 281st nationally in effective field goal percentage offense. Today's contest will be their first true road game of the season, a game that will likely see five WSU freshman play in front of a rabid Siegel Center audience.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
The Rams in many ways are like this year's Wichita State team but somewhat amplified. Where Wichita has been good defensively the Rams have been great. Where Wichita State has struggled offensively the Rams have somehow been worse. VCU's defense currently ranks top-10 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, the first time that has happened on Broad Street since 2014 and just the second time ever since kenpom has been tracking the stat. Twice however, the Rams have has that D tested by elite level guards, St. John's Shamorie Ponds scoring 35 of the Red Storm's 87 in a one-point overtime defeat, then most recently nationally underrated Grant Riller dumping 30 on VCU in an 83-79 College of Charleston upset of the black and gold last week. This year's WSU team hasn't had that type of player. They may eventually find guys become that, but no guard on Gregg Marshall's current roster has been within a galaxy of the types of players that have given this year's VCU team the most trouble. Where the Rams have struggled all season has been on offense, particularly from the three-point line. Long story short, three-point percentages are down virtually across the board, especially among current VCU starters. That lack of efficiency from deep on a team that likes to shoot a bunch of threes has really hurt the Rams early, including these last two contests that saw the Rams shoot below 23% from deep in two contests against good teams that were decided by single digits.
