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Spread: VCU -4
o/u: 128.5
VCU
It usually doesn’t get much more perplexing than Cinderella teams. Despite making a highly improbable run in last seasons NCAA tournament, when they reached the Final Four and lost by 8 to Butler, they have come back this season to start the year with a ho-hum 5-3 record and have already lost to a pretty bad Georgia Tech team.
They didn’t really handle #13 ranked Alabama that well, either, losing by 8 points in a game which only had a combined 136 points. The Crimson Tide are now 7-0, however, so it is a pretty excusable loss. Bradford Burgess scored 18 that game for VCU, despite going a miserable 6 of 15 from the floor. His futility was exceeded by Rob Brandenburg, who shot 2 of 12 from the floor and scored only 10 points.
The Rams have scored more than 70 points only once so far in 8 games.
I guess last season will go down as a great story for VCU’s annals, but a predication of success this year it was not. Last season, however, they did start out with a 9-5 record, so a climb to prominence isn’t impossible, just unlikely. Why? Because after that 9-5 start, VCU won 9 straight games and were sitting at 20-6, before a 1-4 slide and the eventual deep tournament run. It’s as wonderful as it is perplexing, but Rams fans realize they enjoyed something special, not the start of something special.
Burgess, Troy Daniels, and Brandenburg are the only three Rams averaging double figures, and Burgess’ 14.1 points per game lead the way for a Rams team which is only averaging 65 points per game. They are doing pretty much everything by committee, employing an 8 man rotation in which only 2 players play more than 30 minutes.
RICHMOND
Richmond had quite a run themselves in March. After finishing with an impressive 13-3 A-10 record and finishing 29-8 overall, the Spiders made it to the sweet 16, where they lost by 20 to #1 ranked Kansas. Their offense was very good last season, averaging 1.12 points per possession in conference play, while their defense sparkled equally, allowing only 1.00 points per possession.
They return four rotation players from last season, but only Darien Brothers is a returning starter. Brothers is only seeing 24.9 minutes per game this season, but is still posting 10.5 points per contest and shooting 46% from the floor.
Losing A10 first teamers Justin Harper and Kevin Anderson will hurt a lot, but sophomore point guard Cedrick Lindsay should help, as should the 5’8″ super freshman Kendall Anthony.
In only 24 minutes a game, Anthony is posting 15.4 points per game and the 140 pound man from Jackson Tennessee has scored in double figures in all but a 5 point stinker against Rutgers, which Richmond won, anyway. His high game came Saturday night against Wake Forest, as Richmond won by 8 points and he put up 21 points while getting to the line 9 times.
Overall, Richmond has a pretty balanced attack and are going to have to hope that Anthony is aboard for the long haul. The diminutive guard is the kind of player that will help attract some recruits.
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