Where VCU is Strong
Team Defense: VCU is one of the most formidable defenses we have and will face this season. They rank 51st in points allowed a game (64.2), 24th in Defensive rating, 22nd in Steals per game (9.4), and 32nd in Blocks per game (4.8). In addition their opponents commit close to 18 turnovers per game, one of the best numbers in all of basketball. They are a lock down defense that will a give a team like ours trouble. I expect to see low scoring on both sides, with two of the strongest defenses in the A-10 going head to head. Their one weakness is they give up a lot of FGA's per game, particularly 3's, so we have to knock down our shots, but more importantly, take care of the basketball to win.
3-Point Shooting: One might take a look at their 3-Point shooting numbers for the season and say, yeah they shoot over 35% and are in the top 100 in the country, but not anything crazy that we haven't faced before. Think again. In the A-10 so far, VCU is shooting 47.5% from outside the arc, an astounding number. Plus they don't overcommit from 3, ranking only 13th in the A-10 in 3 Point Attempts. VCU have a very balanced attack and put up a lot of shots a game, so hard to know which way they'll go in this one. David Shriver is by far their best 3 point shooter, at 61.3% so far in A-10 play. Look for them to give him plenty of looks (he averages 5+ per game). Personally, I think we need to counter with Roche and let him shoot to have a shot to compete.
Getting to the Line: As a team that takes a high volume of shots, you'd expect them to get to the line a lot, but so far this season, they rank inside the top 20 in the country in Free Throws Attempted (15th) and Free Throws Made (17th). However, so far in A-10 play, they're middle of the pack. They've been so efficient from 3 they haven't needed to get to the line, but if we go and shut them down on the perimeter, look for them to get back to their bread and butter of aggressive drives and plays down by the basket to get their point totals up.
Where VCU is Weak
Rebounding: VCU has been a pretty poor rebounding team this season, but especially in A10 play (11th). Part of this can be attributed to them making their shots, but it's something we will need to beat them on throughout this game to win. I never thought I'd say this, but I think we might be able to get close to VCU's rebounding numbers tonight.
Turnovers: VCU is fairly careless with the basketball. This season they are 29th worst in the country with 15.1 turnovers per game. However, in A-10 play, they've cleaned it up a bit with only 13.5 turnovers in their last 6 games. Let's see if the Goose can shut down Brandon Johns (he'll absolutely get that assignment) and the rest of the team can slow them down a bit. I think if they commit 15+ turnovers, we have a chance to win
