Who would have thought VCU would be a .500 team in the Atlantic 10 at some point in February? They were the pick of many to rule the conference after a great season a year ago and most of the team back, plus star guard Marcus Evans finally having a full off-season where he could work out. Everything seemed to line up for this team to have a big year and not miss a beat, not unlike what they did for many years in the CAA.
It’s easy to reply with “Dayton happened”. But not really. The Flyers were expected to be good, though not quite this good, and their performance is independent of VCU’s. The Rams were still supposed to be pretty good, though. And while they’re hardly a bad team, they are at best teetering on the NCAA Tournament bubble now.
The Rams got handled in Saint Louis on Friday night 80-62 in a game that didn’t even feel that close. Saint Louis shot over 57 percent from the field and had a 41-26 rebounding advantage, holding the Rams to 40 percent from the field. It’s the fourth straight loss for VCU, something that hasn’t happened in 20 years.
The Atlantic 10 looked strong in non-conference play, but aside from Dayton and perhaps Rhode Island has largely reverted to the mean in conference play. Saint Louis was another with a good non-conference resume, but the Billikens are 8-6 in Atlantic 10 play with losses at underachieving Davidson and UMass, although they did beat Richmond. For the season, they don’t have a win over a lock NCAA Tournament team; their best non-conference win came against Kansas State, who is barely in the top 100 in the NET and not sniffing the NCAA Tournament without a Big 12 Tournament title.
VCU has been the big one, though. They had an underwhelming non-conference run, highlighted by a win over LSU and former head coach Will Wade, but that was it. They got swept early on by Rhode Island in a pair of double-digit losses, and the current losing streak started with a home loss to George Mason, who is 3-10 in the Atlantic 10 after showing some promise in non-conference (albeit against a light schedule). They are getting out-rebounded by over two and a half a game, and in Atlantic 10 play are forcing about two fewer turnovers a game than overall. They haven’t been a great offensive team all year.
Evans has had a disappointing year, with career lows across the board in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and tying his low in free throw percentage. He actually has the best three-point percentage of his career, but that’s the only significant career high. He’s also missed four games due to injury, so it hasn’t been the kind of year most thought it would for a guy who has been a star all along and followed head coach Mike Rhoads from Rice. After Friday night’s game, he has scored in double figures just once in his last seven games.
He wasn’t the only reason for Friday’s loss by a long shot, though. Isaac Vann had just five points and two rebounds in 22 minutes. De’Riante Jenkins had 10 points but on 3-11 shooting. Marcus Santos-Silva had 11 points on 5-6 shooting but just six rebounds while guys like Hasahn French (18 points on 9-13 shooting along with seven rebounds) and Javonte Perkins (25 points on 8-11 shooting and seven rebounds) had big nights.
Even through all of this, they entered the night with a NET of 56, which in this season of a wide-open bubble suggests that Friday night doesn’t knock them out. But at 7-7 in Atlantic 10 play and not trending in the right direction, they clearly aren’t in a good place. They don’t have another quality win opportunity in the regular season, so at this point they have to avoid a bad loss and gather some momentum for the conference tournament.
Side Dishes
The Ivy League certainly had an interesting night. Yale is now in sole possession of first place at 7-2, but it didn’t come easily at all as the Bulldogs needed two overtime periods to edge Cornell 81-80 in Ithaca as Jordan Bruner posted the first triple-double in program history (and just the third in Ivy League history) with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Princeton fell back into a three-way tie for second at 6-3 as Harvard held them off 61-60 to join them, and Brown beat Columbia 72-66 in New York. The surprise of the night was Dartmouth knocking off Penn 66-59 and knocking the Quakers back to 5-4 entering a crucial game at Harvard on Saturday night.
Merrimack and Robert Morris both won on Friday night to stay on top in the Northeast Conference. Merrimack beat Sacred Heart 64-57 as Juvaris Hayes tied the NCAA career steals record with 448 and had 22 points and eight assists, while Robert Morris overcame a five-point halftime deficit to beat Mount St. Mary’s 68-60 in Moon Township to stay a game back.
St. Peter’s went back on top in the MAAC by edging Manhattan 67-64, going a half game up on idle Siena. They got a little help as Iona stayed hot with a 70-69 win over a Rider team that has been chasing them, though Monmouth beat Marist 65-61 in overtime to keep pace as they are just a game back in the loss column.
Tonight’s Menu
Another big Saturday is ahead, featuring another high-major showdown early and additional important games later.
- That big showdown comes right away as Baylor hosts Kansas with the top spot in the Big 12 on the line and more (noon), while later Big 12 action has West Virginia visiting TCU, Texas going to Kansas State (2 p.m.), Oklahoma State hosting Oklahoma (4 p.m.) and Texas Tech traveling to Iowa State (6 p.m.)
- The ACC slate gets going with Pittsburgh hosting Virginia (noon), then Louisville hosts North Carolina, NC State tries to build off their win on Wednesday night as they host Florida State (4 p.m.) and Duke hosts Virginia Tech (8 p.m.)
- American Athletic Conference games of note are Houston at Memphis (2 p.m.) and SMU at Tulsa (3 p.m.)
- In the Atlantic 10, Dayton hosts Duquesne (2 p.m.), while Rhode Island has a road test at Davidson (5:30 p.m.) and St. Bonaventure hosts Richmond (6:30 p.m.)
- In Big East play, Providence tries to build on recent wins as they host Marquette (noon), then Xavier hosts Villanova (2:30 p.m.) and DePaul hosts Georgetown (9 p.m.)
- The Big Ten slate has Purdue hosting Michigan (2 p.m.)
- A full slate of CAA action is highlighted by Hofstra visiting Delaware (4 p.m.)
- A showdown is on tap in Conference USA as North Texas hosts Louisiana Tech (4 p.m.)
- The Ivy League slate is highlighted by Harvard hosting Penn, while Princeton heads north to play a Dartmouth team that clipped Penn on Friday night (7 p.m.)
- In MEAC play, Florida A&M hosts Norfolk State (4 p.m.)
- The Mountain West slate is highlighted by San Diego State’s latest challenge, a visit from UNLV (7:30 p.m.)
- A big game in the Ohio Valley Conference is on tap in the evening as Eastern Kentucky hosts Belmont (7 p.m.)
- Pac-12 action gets going with Colorado hosting UCLA (4 p.m.), then Arizona State tries to state hot as they host Oregon State (8 p.m.) and Arizona hosts Oregon in a big one (9 p.m.)
- The big game of the day in the SEC comes early in the evening as Florida travels to Kentucky, while another important game tips simultaneously as LSU visits South Carolina (6 p.m.)
- The Southern Conference has a key game early with Wofford visiting Furman (noon)
- In the Sun Belt, Texas State looks to sweep a homestand against the Georgia schools as Georgia State visits, while in-state rivals clash as conference leader Little Rock visits Arkansas State (5 p.m.)
- Late in the evening is a big one in the West Coast Conference as BYU hosts Gonzaga (10 p.m.)
