Saturday, VCU (5-4) travels to the Prudential Center in Newark to face Seton Hall (7-1) at 3 p.m. in the Never Forget Tribute Classic.
Saturday will feature a doubleheader at the Prudential Center, Seton Hall?s home arena, with a game between No. 5-ranked Florida and No. 17 Cincinnati at 6 p.m. VCU coach Mike Rhoades said he loves the event.
The Rams will meet a Seton Hall team that Rhoades called one of the school?s best in many, many years. The Pirates are coming off wins over then-No. 22-ranked Texas Tech and then-No. 17 Louisville. That catapulted them back into the AP Top 25 this week at No. 19 and up to No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches poll from No. 24.
Rhoades said Seton Hall is a physical team. The Pirates rank 34th in the country with 13.4 offensive rebounds per game.
?I think they do a really good job of rebounding and defending the rim and creating opportunities for them on the glass,? he said. ?So we?ve got to do a really good job of rebounding. We?ve gotten better and better at it, but we got to take it to a whole different level against these guys.?
VCU outrebounded Old Dominion 36-27 and Texas 38-33. Overall this season, the Rams hold a plus-2.6 rebounding margin with 37.6 boards per game to opponents? 35. Seton Hall is at plus-5.6.
Williams said everyone will have to box out.
?Can?t just stand there and watch, or your man might get a putback, or just an offensive rebound,? he said. ?Might kick it out for 3. You don?t want those momentum plays, especially on somebody else?s home turf.?
Seton Hall has scored 113 second-chance points to opponents? 55 this season. Senior center Angel Delgado leads the Pirates with 9.3 rebounds per game, and he averages 13.3 points. Among active players, Delgado, 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, leads the NCAA with 1,127 career rebounds and 55 career double-doubles.
Rhoades said after Tuesday?s close loss to Texas that the Rams have to take the next step. Saturday could provide another indicator of how close they are to landing where they want to be.
?Through experience, get better and better,? Rhoades said after Tuesday?s game. ?Higher attention to detail in practice, that gets us better. And then we carry it to a game, and that?s how we win this game.
?And, I love my guys. They?re so into each other. They?re so into figuring this out. They?re not splintering, they?re not pointing the finger. Now we got to take the next step.?
Saturday will feature a doubleheader at the Prudential Center, Seton Hall?s home arena, with a game between No. 5-ranked Florida and No. 17 Cincinnati at 6 p.m. VCU coach Mike Rhoades said he loves the event.
The Rams will meet a Seton Hall team that Rhoades called one of the school?s best in many, many years. The Pirates are coming off wins over then-No. 22-ranked Texas Tech and then-No. 17 Louisville. That catapulted them back into the AP Top 25 this week at No. 19 and up to No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches poll from No. 24.
Rhoades said Seton Hall is a physical team. The Pirates rank 34th in the country with 13.4 offensive rebounds per game.
?I think they do a really good job of rebounding and defending the rim and creating opportunities for them on the glass,? he said. ?So we?ve got to do a really good job of rebounding. We?ve gotten better and better at it, but we got to take it to a whole different level against these guys.?
VCU outrebounded Old Dominion 36-27 and Texas 38-33. Overall this season, the Rams hold a plus-2.6 rebounding margin with 37.6 boards per game to opponents? 35. Seton Hall is at plus-5.6.
Williams said everyone will have to box out.
?Can?t just stand there and watch, or your man might get a putback, or just an offensive rebound,? he said. ?Might kick it out for 3. You don?t want those momentum plays, especially on somebody else?s home turf.?
Seton Hall has scored 113 second-chance points to opponents? 55 this season. Senior center Angel Delgado leads the Pirates with 9.3 rebounds per game, and he averages 13.3 points. Among active players, Delgado, 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, leads the NCAA with 1,127 career rebounds and 55 career double-doubles.
Rhoades said after Tuesday?s close loss to Texas that the Rams have to take the next step. Saturday could provide another indicator of how close they are to landing where they want to be.
?Through experience, get better and better,? Rhoades said after Tuesday?s game. ?Higher attention to detail in practice, that gets us better. And then we carry it to a game, and that?s how we win this game.
?And, I love my guys. They?re so into each other. They?re so into figuring this out. They?re not splintering, they?re not pointing the finger. Now we got to take the next step.?
