Stuart C. Siegel, Richmond, VA
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
6:30PM
Media
TV: CBSSN
Online: CBSSN
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Previews
VCU’s Fan Forum
After losing at La Salle over the weekend in one of the more lackadaisical Rhody performances this season, and that is saying something, the University of Rhode Island Rams head to the Commonwealth of Virginia to take on the VCU Rams. Since most fans have mentally checked out on this season & the ones that haven’t are currently standing on the Washington Bridge hoping for it to finally collapse into the Seekonk River, I will include a trivia question to keep the handful of preview readers still interested. Sadly, that is how sad things have become for Rhody Nation. Along with Virginia, what are the other three states that are also commonwealths? Answer towards the bottom of the preview.
Although losing the head coach last year Mike Rhoades to Penn State in the offseason, VCU is right back towards the top of the A10 standings with new coach Ryan Odom. Weird, who knew you could retain dominance in a conference after losing your coach to a bigger program? The Rams of VCU were picked 2nd in the preseason polls, but struggled out of the gate, losing the first two conference games of the season, both at home to St. Bonaventure & George Washington. After that they won 9 of 10 & currently site in fourth at 10-4 in the A10. When Ryan Odom came to VCU from Utah State, he brought 2 players with him in Max Shulga & Sean Bairstow. Well, technically he brought 3 with him if you want to count his son, walk-on Connor Odom.
Senior Max Shulga, who was picked on the preseason all-conference second team, is leading the team in points with 14.7 & is third on the team at almost 5 per game & second on the team in assists at 3.7 per game. He is also an excellent from the line, shooting it at 87.6% for the season. Everyone on VCU is a great free throw shooter, with forward Toibu Lawal being the only exception who is shooting it 60.3% (which is basically the equivalent of David Green from the line). To put the free throw shooting in perspective, VCU is 6th in the nation at 79.1% while Rhody is 343rd in the country at 64.2. Yikes! The other main Utah St transfer Sean Bairstow, was picked preseason all-conference 3rd team, missed the first dozen or so games from a non-contact injury in practice right before the season. He needed surgery on his fifth metatarsal and has struggled shooting since coming back. To give you a sense of how bad his shooting has been, his eFG% is 40.2% (which is 2 percentage points worse than Always Wright’s). Although struggling with his shot, he still is fourth on the team in scoring just shy of 10 per game & is second on the team in rebounding (5.1) & first in assists at 4.6 per game. Second on the team in scoring is career vagabond, Joe Bamisile at 13.4 points per game. He started his career at Viriginia Tech & then transferred to George Washington. At GW he averaged 16.3 points per game & 5 rebounds. He parlayed that success & transferred to Oklahoma. After barely playing for the Sooners, he realized the grass isn’t always greener at P5 schools. Throw in the fact that his father was having health problems, having to be rushed to the hospital twice for heart failure that season, he transferred to VCU for his senior year to be closer to home. He became eligible to play from the same District Judge ruling that allowed David Green to play this season. Fun fact, after graduating he would be eligible to play a fifth year because of the pandemic. Could he possibly play for a fifth team in five years? Third on the team in scoring is Zeb Jackson, who is just shy of 11 per game. That name may ring familiar from last season’s dagger game winner to ruin Rhody’s upset win. He is a poor three-point shooter shooting at just over 26% while Shulga & Bamisile are both over 40%. Finally, forward Toibu Lawal is leading the team in rebounding at almost 6 per game. Not bad considering he is playing only 19 minutes per game. When not in a 4-guard lineup, he is splitting time with Cal transfer Kuany Kuany & Christian Fermin.
As for the Rams of Rhode Island, at the time of this writing we are still allowed in the A10. I guess we have that going for us. I think that is the only good news I could find. Weston did have a good game going for 12 & 6 after struggling against Richmond. He has played well in 4 of his last 5 games. Rams will need more of that to close out the season. Will David Fuchs be available Wednesday night after tweaking his ankle & missing the game Sunday against La Salle? He has 60% of the team’s double-doubles & 2/3rds of the conference play double-doubles. He will be much needed if Rhody even wants to sniff the chance of getting the win.
Can the Rams of Rhody Island sneak out a road victory against a much better Rams of Virginia team? The short answer is no. Hmmm…the long answer is also no. Rhody has lost 3 in a row to VCU but still has an overall winning record against them. Although the days of Havoc are long gone, the Siegel Center is a very tough place to get a road win. Apparently it is also a tough place to navigate for people with physical disabilities, so fuck that place. After shooting a miserable 30% against UMass last week, VCU must be salivating at the chance to light it up from the floor against the porous defense of Rhody. Oh yeah, if you have made it this far in the preview (which I doubt you have), the answer to the trivia question is Kentucky, Massachusetts & Pennsylvania are the other 3 commonwealths. My prediction is that the bad Rams win, VCU 81 – URI 68. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
18-9, 10-4 in the A10
27-8, 15-3 in the A10 (Last Season)
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 76 (201)
RPI: 45 (155)
KenPom: 86 (194)
BPI: 88 (208)
Barttovik: 91 (179)
Leaders:
Points – Max Shulga 14.7 (Sr., G)
Rebounds – Toibu Lawal 5.9 (Soph., F)
Assists – Sean Bairstow 4.6 (Sr., G) (2.1 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 11-10
H: 5-3, A: 3-7, N: 3-0
Most Recent Matchup: 2/15/23 55-54 L at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 3 – VCU
Match-up Predictor: 9.3% Chance of URI Winning