UMass (5-4, 4-2) vs. VCU (11-4, 4-2)
Stuart Siegel Center, Richmond, Virginia; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UMass visits VCU in an A10 matchup. Both teams last saw action this past weekend. VCU won over Dayton 66-43 on Saturday, while UMass fell 69-60 to Davidson on Sunday.
TEAM LEADERS: VCU’s Nah’Shon Hyland has averaged 18.6 points and 2.2 steals while Vince Williams Jr. has put up 10.5 points and five rebounds. For the Minutemen, Tre Mitchell has averaged 20 points and 7.4 rebounds while Noah Fernandes has put up 11.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Minutemen have given up just 69.8 points per game to A10 opponents so far, an improvement from the 83.3 per game they allowed in non-conference play.MIGHTY MITCHELL: Mitchell has connected on 37.9 percent of the 29 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 5 of 16 over the last three games. He’s also made 73.1 percent of his foul shots this season.
SHARING THE BURDEN: VCU is a perfect 7-0 when at least three of its players score 10 or more points. The team is 4-4 when fewer than three Rams players score in double-figures.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Minutemen have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Rams. VCU has an assist on 44 of 75 field goals (58.7 percent) over its previous three outings while UMass has assists on 43 of 67 field goals (64.2 percent) during its past three games.
STINGY DEFENSE: VCU has forced opponents into committing turnovers on 25.4 percent of all possessions this year, the ninth-highest rate among all Division I teams. The Rams have forced conference foes into turnovers on 25.9 percent of all possessions.
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