Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
The (9-6) Davidson Wildcats and (10-5) VCU Rams will face off in Atlantic-10 hoops action Saturday at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. The Wildcats, 2-1 in conference play, defeated Loyola Chicago 80-57 on Wednesday. The Rams, 1-1 in A-10 competition, fell 79-70 at Duquesne in their last game.
Davidson and Virginia Commonwealth split their two meetings last season. The Rams hold a narrow 9-8 advantage in the series history.
Tip-off from Richmond, VA, is at 12:00 p.m. ET.
The Wildcats have dropped three of their past five, falling to undefeated Purdue, Northeastern, and Dayton. They went 7-5 in non-conference play, picking up wins over Wright State, San Francisco, and South Carolina. Davidson was picked to finish sixth in the A-10 preseason poll.
Junior forward Sam Mennenga's 22 points paced the Wildcats in their win over the Ramblers. Senior guard Foster Loyer added 21 points, including 16 in the second half, and junior forward David Skogman contributed 16 on 5-of-7 shooting. Davidson was 29-of-51 (56.9%) from the field and 19-of-22 (86.4%) from the free-throw line in the 23-point victory.
Did that ???#TCC pic.twitter.com/rExedJfjSs
— Davidson Basketball (@DavidsonMBB) January 5, 2023
The Wildcats score 72.1 points on 44.9 percent shooting, including 32.7 percent from three-point range. Their schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency rating is 127th in the country, per KenPom. Davidson averages 30.2 rebounds per game, and its opponents collect 34.8 rebounds.
Loyer paces the Wildcats, scoring 17.3 points with 5.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game. Other Davidson players to watch are Mennenga (15.7 PPG and 7.0 RPG), sophomore guard Desmond Watson (8.7 PPG and 3.8 RPG), and junior guard Grant Huffman (7.9 PPG).
The Wildcats give up 68.9 points per game on 42.0 percent shooting. Their opponents shoot just 28.8 percent from three (32nd-lowest in the country) and 66.1 percent from the foul line (40th-lowest). Davidson's schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency rating is 138th, and its assist-per-turnover ratio (1.17) is 68th.