Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
Fordham (14-4 SU, 10-8 ATS, 2-3 A10) travels to Pittsburgh to meet Duquense (9-9 SU, 10-6-1 ATS, 3-3 A10) on Saturday at 2pmET.
These teams met twice last season with Fordham winning both games and covering both.
Antrell Charlton drained a mid-range jumper to help Fordham beat La Salle 66-64 on Jan. 14. That was the Rams' first conference road win of the season. But the key for the Rams was the play of freshman guard Will Richardson, who averages just 5.0 points per game. He scored 17 of his career-high 19 points in the first half and converted 7 of 12 shots from the floor (3-6 3pt). Richardson scored 13 points in their previous game (82-58 loss to Dayton), but scored just two points combined in his previous four games. The Rams needed a big effort from the freshman because they shot just 39% from the field.
Never give up on the play#Attitude pic.twitter.com/fIsvFbX9hS
— Fordham Basketball (@FordhamMBB) January 18, 2023
The 14-4 record for the Rams is their best start since 1970-71. Fordham had a really strong non-conference performance, winning 11 straight from Nov. 15-Dec. 22. The problem? They rank 359th in terms of strength of schedule according to KenPom. Offensively, they rank 4th in the A-10 (out of 15) with 72.1 points per game and 6th in points allowed (67.7). They shoot just 42.5% (11th) from the field and allow 41.8% (5th). They rank first in the A-10 in free throw shooting (76.4%) and in blocked shots 5.61 per game.
Guard Darius Quisenberry leads the team again in scoring with 16.6 points per game on 39.8% shooting (37.1% 3pt). Their interior defense has thrived thanks to 6-9 junior forward Abodou Tsimbila (6.2ppg, 7.2rpg, 2.2bpg) and 6-10 Rostyslav Novitsky (7.2ppg, 1.4bpg).