The VCU Rams are now entering their second season under Will Wade and are still playing the HAVOC defense that took the Rams to the Final Four. VCU enters the season with some major questions though following the departures of Briante Weber and Treveon Graham and there may be some growing pains this season. A young Rams team will be put to the test when it heads to the islands for Thanksgiving to face the Baylor Bears.
This war on the floor will go down Wednesday, November 23, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. ET at the Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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VCU has yet to play a lined game yet this season and the Rams are 3-0 SU. They did get a test a week ago when they traveled to face Liberty and held on for a tough five-point win. Their two other games, against Binghamton and UNC-Asheville, were both blowouts.
The Bears turned some heads last week after hammering Oregon 66-49 in Waco and have also notched respectable wins against Florida Gulf Coast and Oral Roberts. Under is 2-0 in Baylor games this season.
Key Stat
Baylor is still struggling to rebound despite its size and the Bears are going to need to improve down low in a hurry. The Bears got dominated by Oral Roberts in the paint their first game of the season and are averaging just 35 rebounds a game. Only two players are pulling down over five boards a game and the inability of a third player to step up is going to impact them sooner or later.
The good news for Baylor is that Jo Lual-Acuil looks like the real deal. Lual-Acuil is averaging a double-double through three games but more importantly has been a defensive force. He has swatted away 16 shots through three games and his 7 blocks against Oregon played a big part in Baylor running away with that game. He is still raw and needs polish, but there is a lot of raw talent there.
Injury Update
It’s unknown whether or not VCU will have its best shooter when the Rams take the court on Wednesday afternoon. Justin Tillman tweaked an ankle in the season opener against UNC Asheville and has been ruled out in each of the following two games. An MRI has proven that there is no structural damage, but there has been enough swelling to make him a scratch.
Tillman’s shooting ability is needed on a Rams team that can find it hard to score points. Aside from Tillman, only JeQuan Lewis is averaging 10 PPG or more per game and Lewis is shooting just 40 percent from the floor. If Tillman is again unable to go that will hurt VCU’s shot of getting a nice OOC win.
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Ken Pomeroy has both of these teams rated in his Top 35, but he looks a little more favorably upon Baylor. He rates Baylor’s offenses as one of the 25 best in the country and Manu Lecomte is a big reason why. Lecomte is a great table-setter for Baylor, averaging 7 assists a game, and is also knocking down 44 percent of his threes this year.
VCU again has one of the top defenses in the country. The Rams have allowed a little over 55 PPG through the first three games of the season and opponents have hit just 37.7 percent of their shots against this team.
The Rams have been unable to hit free throws this season and that could come back to bite them. VCU is sinking a scant 61.4 percent of its shots from the charity stripe and giving up those free points could prove costly against a team like Baylor.
College Basketball Odds: Baylor 77, VCU 69
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