VCU vs. Saint Louis: 2020-21 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

VCU vs. Saint Louis: 2020-21 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

Fresh off disappointing losses, two of the top teams in the Atlantic 10 in the VCU Rams and Saint Louis Billikens will meet in a pivotal showdown.

TV schedule: Tuesday, February 23rd, 6:00 pm ET. CBSSN

Arena: Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia

With the Atlantic 10 race heating up, Tuesday will showcase a duel between two mid-major powers in the VCU Rams and the Saint Louis Billikens – in a duel that has major implications on both teams’ at-large aspirations.

The Rams (16-5) – currently sitting in a tie for first with St. Bonaventure – are coming off their first loss in a month, having fallen at home in overtime to George Mason on Saturday, 79-76. With wins over Dayton, St. Bonaventure, Richmond, Utah State, and Memphis under their belt, the Rams currently sit as the highest-ranked A-10 team in the latest NET rankings (35th) and are still firmly on the bubble.

The loss to George Mason hurts their aspirations – but even more concerning, particularly entering this tilt with Saint Louis, is the loss of Nah’Shon Hyland. After leading his team with 17 points, Hyland went down with an injury late in the second half – in what has been diagnosed as a right foot sprain. VCU saw three other players reach double-digits – Vince Williams (15), Jamir Watkins (13), and Adrian Baldwin (12) – but the loss of Hyland, the favorite for A-10 Player of the Year, hurts VCU’s offense drastically moving forward.

The Rams had stellar success inside and at the line, going 21-40 (52.5%) on two-pointers and 19-21 (90.5%) from the charity stripe – all the while forcing 20 George Mason turnovers and snagging 13 steals. Contrarily, however, VCU suffered in those exact same areas, allowing the Patriots to go 26-47 (55.3%) inside the arc and 18-25 (72.0%) on freebies while forcing 19 VCU miscues and hauling down a whopping 15 offensive rebounds.

That does not bode well for the Rams considering they are now lining up against a team that thrives on inside play and on the offensive glass – but is also coming off an extremely disappointing loss. The Billikens (11-4) are still playing catch-up from their month-long COVID-19 pause, and appeared primed to be returning to their pre-pause dominance – but a 76-53 blowout loss at the hands of Dayton on Friday sent a blow to Saint Louis’ at-large aspirations.

Little went well for the Billikens against the Flyers. Zero players reached double-digits, with Terrence Hargrove Jr. – off the bench – leading the way for Saint Louis with eight points. The Billikens hauled down a whopping 21 offensive rebounds – but scored just 10 points on second-chance points. Saint Louis – a team that has relied substantially on two-pointers – shot just 30.8% (12-39) inside while allowing Dayton to record a 60.7% clip in the same area.

The loss snapped a four-game win streak that saw the Billikens shoot 50.7% inside the perimeter and scoop up significant wins over St. Bonaventure and URI, all the while star guard Jordan Goodwin recorded averages of 13.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.25 assists, and 2.5 steals. For additional context on just how disastrous Saint Louis’ game against Dayton was: Goodwin scored a season-low seven points – his lowest output since February 1st, 2020 – on 3-16 shooting while turning the ball over three times.

With Hyland out, VCU will face an incredibly daunting task – particularly in replacing a player who takes 31.7% of the Rams’ shots when he is in and is involved in 27.7% of their possessions. Additionally, VCU’s reliance on forcing turnovers may not be nearly as effective, considering the Billikens turn the ball over on just 15.8% of their possessions – the 2nd-best mark in the A-10. For context: the Rams forced Richmond – the conference’s best in not turning the ball over – to commit just six turnovers.

VCU’s saving grace may be their 2PT defense, where they hold A-10 teams to just 46.5% inside, which ranks third in the conference. Their success inside may end there against the Billikens, however, considering the Rams allow conference squads to haul down an offensive rebound on 31.8% of their attempts – which ranks dead last in the A-10.

Both teams are still squarely on the bubble – albeit VCU is in a much better spot than the Billikens. Saint Louis desperately needs a resume-boosting win, particularly with few opportunities left – while the Rams may have a little bit of leeway with Hyland’s injury, but a win over the Billikens would do wonders for their at-large aspirations. All signs, however – particularly with Hyland out – point to this being a Saint Louis win.

Prediction: Saint Louis 74 – VCU 66

Louis E. Stegman

We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message.

Weekend rewind: Thoughts from a busy weekend of high school basketball

You can’t start talking about this past weekend without talking about what will likely go down as the game of the year. It’s going to be difficult to top what went down Saturday night in Oak Park.

Notre Dame and Fenwick, a pair of highly-ranked teams, went to overtime where Louis Lesmond ended it in unbelievable fashion. With the game tied, Lesmond grabbed a defensive rebound with just a few seconds left, took two dribbles and let it fly from about 55 feet. Game over.

Behind Lesmond’s 35 points and heroic shot, Notre Dame walked out of Fenwick with a 71-68 win in overtime.

Might the 6-5 Harvard-bound senior have added his name to legitimate Player of the Year contenders?

It was always going to be difficult for any Notre Dame player to be in the conversation. The trio of Lesmond, Troy D’Amico and Anthony Sayles are too balanced, share the wealth and are very efficient in their smaller number of shot attempts.

Louis calls game. All hail the King.@nofanstv pic.twitter.com/ujJZzGP1sq — ND Media Crew (@MediaCrew_NDCP) February 21, 2021

Yes, Fenwick dropped its first game of the season in heartbreaking fashion to Notre Dame. The good news, however, is that junior David Gieser is back from injury.

The 6-2 Gieser is a floor-spacing shooter who was huge in the comeback against Notre Dame Saturday night with monster three-pointers. And it’s exactly the type of player the Friars need to surround star Bryce Hopkins with in the second half of this abbreviated season.

DePaul Prep impresses

Watching DePaul on Friday night was a reminder that coach Tom Kleinschmidt is really good at his job.

Yes, there is the building of the program into what is now a perennial power in the Catholic League. That goes without saying and stands out. But from a basketball standpoint it’s about utilizing the talent he has at his disposal each year.

There was to be some ragged play after having played just one game thus far when it squared off with St. Ignatius Friday night. But in addition to turning defense into offense –– this program will always be defensive-minded first –– Kleinschmidt allows both TY Johnson and Rasheed Bello to create, play more downhill and forces defenses to pick their poison in coverages.

There is less of a grind offensively.

In a normal year, this team is a legitimate Class 3A state title contender with its combination of versatile firepower and the defense it plays.

John Poulakidas bounces back

The Neuqua Valley performance against Waubonsie Valley on Friday was startling –– and one to forget for the Wildcats. Neuqua fell behind its rival early, trailing 40-11 at the half, before eventually losing 70-28.

But they bounced back with a convincing win over a previously unbeaten Burlington Central team on Saturday.

The signature moment of the weekend, however, came on John Poulakidas’ third basket of the game in the win over the Rockets. The 6-5 senior surpassed 1,300 career points and became the all-time leading scorer in Neuqua Valley history.

Many would have thought the program’s greatest player, Dwayne Evans, who went on to star collegiately at Saint Louis, would have been the all-time leading scorer at Neuqua. But it was Keelan Amelianovich who Poulakidas passed. Amelianovich had an All-American career at the Division III level playing at Illinois Wesleyan.

Fortunately this shortened season didn’t derail what was going to be an obvious milestone for Poulakidas, who is headed to Yale next season.

Andrew is dangerous

Always pesky Andrew, where coach Dave Wilson has done an outstanding job keeping that program competitive, was back at being pesky again this past weekend. The Thunderbolts handed Bolingbrook its first loss of the season with a 52-45 win on the road.

Andrew, led by Jolo Amoranto, is now on top of the Southwest Suburban Red. It was 28 years since the last time Andrew won a conference title when Wilson’s Thunderbolts broke through with a league title in 2018. Now they’re on the verge again.

Amoranto, the little lefty who is averaging 20 points a game, is a fun player to watch and a nice small college basketball prospect.

Josh Harris hits 1,000

Saturday’s win over Westmont was a memorable night at Timothy Christian where senior Josh Harris, who is headed to Division III Illinois College, scored his 1,000th career point. Plus, junior Ben Vander Wal threw down an eye-popping baseline dunk. If you get a chance, check out his baseline dunk on social media.

Naperville North turns it around

A little rocky 1-3 start to the season for Naperville North turned positive very quickly this past week, beating rival Naperville Central 57-49 and handing neighboring Benet its first loss of the season, 43-30.