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Stuart C. Siegel Center is hosting an A-10 battle on Tuesday night, featuring two of the conference's hottest teams. The Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (13-5; 8-10-0 ATS) enter Richmond amid a three-game winning streak. So do the hosting VCU Rams (11-7; 9-8-1 ATS) who won last season's lone meeting in Chicago. At 7:00 p.m. EDT, the Ramblers will seek to avenge that loss. Will the Rams handle business at home?
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Only two schools in the A-10 have gotten off to a stronger start in conference play than Loyola-Chicago, who is 5-1 against their rivals so far. The Ramblers' latest win came by four over Fordham, once again flexing the strength of their defense. They only allowed 61 points in that one, bringing their season average to 67.3 points against despite a faster playstyle. Loyola struggles to force missed threes, as foes hit 35.6% of their deep attempts. However, Loyola limits foes to 39.7% shooting overall. The Ramblers offset a -1.0 turnover margin with a +3.2 rebounding differential. This season's Loyola team has also benefitted from poor free throw shooting by their opponents, as they send foes to the line 19.8 times per game. Regardless, Loyola is getting results defensively.
On the other end, the Ramblers are a bit shakier. They put up 73.4 points per contest on 46.4% shooting. Loyola knocks down 35.5% of their three-pointers. Yet, the team struggles to grab offensive boards (8.6 per game), is prone to turn the ball over (13.3 per game), and only shoots 67.8% at the charity stripe. Philip Alston and Desmond Watson are the only double-digit scorers. Things could be worse for the Ramblers' offense, but this group leaves plenty of points on the floor.