The Saint Joseph’s Hawks square off against the VCU Rams in the fifth round of the A10 tournament at the Barclays Center. The game starts at 12:30 pm ET on Sunday, Mar. 13 and will air on CBS.
The Rams easily got past Davidson 76-54 in the 4. Korey Billbury led all scorers with 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting. The Hawks, meanwhile, are coming off an 82-79 win over Dayton in the 4. Isaiah Miles shot 7-for-15 and led in scoring with 26 points.
Points could be at a premium in this matchup between two of the nation’s best defenses. VCU ranks 11th in the nation in defensive efficiency (96.0), while Saint Joseph’s is 15th (99.4). Also, the Hawks commit the fewest errors in the nation (TO% of 14.6%), while the ball-hawking defense of the Rams causes the third-most (opponents’ TO% of 22.4%).
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Rams won the first game 76-54. Miles scored a game-high 26 points.
Notes
VCU won its last game by a 22-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, Saint Joseph’s is 6-0. VCU is 11-0 in blowouts this season.
Ranked 15th, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks have one of the top defenses in the country, giving up just 99.4 points per 100 possessions. The VCU Rams rank 75th in offense, scoring 110.5 points in the same number of possessions.
The VCU Rams average 70.0 possessions per game and 1.105 points per possession, while the Saint Joseph’s Hawks earn fewer possessions (69.9) but more points per possession (1.106).
The Saint Joseph’s Hawks average an effective field goal percentage of 50.9% this season. The VCU Rams have a winning 10-5 record in games where opponents have an eFG% of 50.9% or greater.
The VCU Rams average 20.0 three point attempts per game, and the Saint Joseph’s Hawks attempt 21.0 per game. When going for at least 20 three pointers in a game this season, both teams have winning records; VCU is 12-4 and Saint Joseph’s is 16-4.
The 16th-ranked team in the category, Saint Joseph’s has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.47 this season. VCU ranks 68th with an A/TO of 1.25.
Saint Joseph’s is one of the top defensive rebounding teams, ranking 19th. VCU ranks 58th in offensive rebounding.
On average, Saint Joseph’s forces a turnover rate of 16.5%, ranked 18th in the nation. When VCU turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 11-6 record.
