The VCU Rams and the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers meet in college basketball action from the Gentile Arena on Tuesday night.
The VCU Rams will look to build on an 89-72 win over Davidson in their last game. Adrian Baldwin Jr. has a team-high 13.3 PPG and 6.3 APG to lead VCU in scoring and assists while Brandon Johns Jr. has 12.6 PPG with 5.4 RPG and Jamir Watkins has 10.9 PPG with 4.9 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for VCU this season. Jayden Nunn has 9.2 PPG and Jalen DeLoach also has a team-high 6.5 RPG to lead the Rams on the glass so far this season. As a team, VCU is averaging 70.7 PPG on 44.8% shooting from the field, 34.5% from three and 70.8% from the foul line this season.
The Loyola-Chicago Ramblers will try to snap a four-game losing streak after their 86-75 loss to George Mason last time out. Philip Alston leads the Ramblers in scoring and rebounding with 14.4 PPG and 5.8 RPG while Braden Norris has 10.9 PPG with a team-high 4.3 APG to lead Loyola-Chicago in assists. Marquise Kennedy has 10.2 PPG and Ben Kennedy has 10.4 PPG as the only other double-digit scorers for the Ramblers so far this season. As a team, Loyola-Chicago is averaging 68.7 PPG on 47.4% shooting from the field, 33.3% from three and 69.7% from the foul line this season.
VCU is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 road games and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Loyola-Chicago is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following an ATS loss and 3-13 ATS in their last 16 games overall while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall.
I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m leaning towards VCU here. Loyola-Chicago is a solid squad, but it’s clear that there’s an adjustment period with life in the A-10 now that the Ramblers haven’t been able to get acclimated to. VCU keeps finding ways to get the job done, and while they’ve stumbled on the road this season, it’s the lesser of two evils here. I’ll side with VCU laying the bucket here.