Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
7:00PM
Media
TV: YurView
Online: ESPN +
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network
Previews
VCU Fan Forum
On the heels of losing all three games on their road trip, the University of Rhode Island Rams limp back to Kingston with one less body on the roster. As most of us are aware, Bray Freeman has been dismissed from the team. It is too bad, now who is going to like my tweets when I say he is going to transfer after the season?
Virginia Commonwealth University, currently Atlantic 10’s first place team, head to Kingston Wednesday night. The Rams of VCU are coming off a week off after a loss at home against Dayton. They lost to Dayton at home. Who does that? Well, the other Rams of Fordham also lost to Dayton at home. That leaves Rhody as the only Rams team to beat the Flyers on their home court. VCU has lost their last two home games with the other loss coming from St. Bonaventure. Their only other conference loss was at Duquesne in the beginning of the new year.
VCU is led by junior guard Ace Baldwin, who is leading the team in scoring at 13.5 & assists at 5.7. If the game is miraculously close at the end, he is someone you don’t want to foul. He is shooting 93% from the line on the road. Michigan transfer Brandon Johns Jr is second on the team in both scoring & rebounding, 12 & 5.1 respectively. Leading the team in rebounding is forward Jalen DeLoach with over 7 per contest. Hartford transfer David Shriver is their best three-point shooter, but his play has been down as of late. He had a couple conference games where he went 6 for 8 from deep but is 0 for his last 7 & hasn’t hit a shot from the floor in his last 3 games. Although VCU is not quite the havoc defense of old, they still put quite a bit of pressure on the ball handlers. VCU is averaging over 9 steals per game. With Rhody being down a viable option to handle the ball, this puts even more pressure on URI to get the ball down the court quickly so they can get into their offensive set. The good news for Rhody is that the other Rams are averaging almost as many turnovers as they do. This game could easily hit 30+ turnovers as both teams’ average over 14 per game.
VCU’s lineup isn’t too big, so Rhody has potential of going small against them. Could see Malik & 4 guards at times in this one. Rhody is averaging 5 more rebounds per game than their Ram counterparts. With Bray now gone, how do the others step up? With Carey handling the ball more, can he limit his turnovers? Will there be more Weston minutes? Does Hutch get a little more play this game at the 4? Will I need to pregame even harder at Shaidzon to make this game tolerable? Since I had zero takers the last time I did this, I will try it again. If you are reading this preview, I will be perched at the corner of the bar at Shaidzon on Wednesday before the game from 4-6:30. If you come by & say the phrase that pays, “URI race to 10”, I will buy you a half liter of Buffalo Czech.
URI has potential to pull off a home trifecta Wednesday night. If Rhody can pull off the upset win against VCU, Rhody would then have home wins against the top 3 teams in the conference (VCU, Dayton & Fordham). Will this happen, probably not but stranger things have happened. I am guessing that the Rams of VCU will be favored by about 4 over the Rams of Rhode Island. My prediction VCU 68 – URI 61. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
18-7, 9-3 in the A10
22-10, 14-4 in the A10 (Last Season)
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 84 (229)
RPI: 49 (247)
KenPom: 84 (217)
BPI: 75 (216)
Sagarin: 71 (201)
Barttovik: 86 (216)
Leaders:
Points – Ace Baldwin Jr 13.5 (Jr., G)
Rebounds – Jalen DeLoach 7.3 (Soph., F)
Assists – Ace Baldwin Jr 5.7 (Jr., G) (2.5 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 11-9
H: 5-2, A: 3-7, N: 3-0
Most Recent Matchup: 2/8/22 73-64 L at VCU
Most Recent Win Streak: 2 – VCU
Match-up Predictor: 23.9% Chance of URI Winning