Loyola Ramblers Preview – https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2026/1/ ... o-vcu.aspx

VCU Stats and Intel - https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... sephs/men/

Record: 15-6 (6-2, 3rd in A-10 MBB)
Coach: Phil Martelli
PS/G: 84.0 (47th of 365)
PA/G: 73.5 (182nd of 365)
SRS: 13.05 (55th of 365)
SOS: 2.48 (105th of 365)
ORtg: 119.4 (35th of 365)
DRtg: 104.4 (159th of 365)
Preseason Odds: Championship +30000


Loyola Chicago Ramblers 5-17 (1-8) at VCU Rams 15-6 (6-2) – 8:00pm CST, Siegel Center, Richmond, VA

The Ramblers, losers of 8 straight, travel to VCU where they take on the Rams on a Friday Night Showdown on ESPN2.

Tuesday night the Ramblers dropped their seventh straight, losing in embarrassing fashion, 85-64. The game was all but over after the first two possessions of the game (23 seconds) in which Joe’s hit a three and Miles Rubin stood under the basket watching Justice Ajogbor throw down a monster dunk. Down 5 early, the Ramblers had it back down to 11 and failed to get within 9 before Joe’s went on another massive run to close out the first half. Joe’s lead ballooned to 33 at largest. The Ramblers got better in the second on a 40-34 edge but it wasn’t anywhere near enough in this blowout loss on home turf. Joshua Ola-Joseph led the team with his 13 points and seven boards while Deywilk Tavarez had 12 points and one assist in 17 minutes of work in the defeat. 6 Hawks players scored in double figures led by Austin Williford’s 17 and Jaiden Glover’s 16.

The Ramblers visit VCU for the third time ever. The Ramblers are winless against VCU in the all time series, 0-4.

VCU is 15-6 overall and is riding a four-game win streak into Friday. Led by new coach, Phil Martelli Jr. (formerly of Bryant), the Rams are in A-10 contention yet again and have assembled a nice roster in which only 24.5% of minutes played and 15.9% of scoring returned from last season’s A-10 championship roster that eventually fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament to BYU. No matter who comes to coach VCU, they just keep winning and contending.

Coming into this matchup VCU has tough losses to Utah State, NC State, Vanderbilt and New Mexico during a 6-4 opening run this season. The Rams hit an 8-2 stretch over their next 10 games, taking out Niagara, American, Rider, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s and Davidson in that time.

In league play, the Rams are in third place with a 6-2 record. They're very difficult to beat at home as they have a 10-2 record in the Siegel Center this season. They also have one of the nation’s top offenses, ranked 47th nationally in this regard, averaging nearly 85ppg.

VCU has one of the best scoring benches in the country, averaging 37.1 bench points per game to rank 6th in the NCAA. Sophomore guard Terrence Hill Jr. is the reason for that. He's come off the bench in all 21 games and leads VCU with 14.4 points per game. He is on an 11-game streak with at least 10 points tallied. He has 16 double-figure outings this year.

VCU ranks fifth in the A-10 in rebounding averaging 33.3 rebounds. Lazar Djokovic leads the Rams with 5.5 boards. Terrence Hill Jr. is averaging 14.4 points for the Rams in a 6th man role. Djokovic is averaging 14.4 points over the last 10 games.

Djokovic has quietly emerged as one of VCU’s most reliable and impactful frontcourt pieces, making him a key player to watch in the Rams’ lineup. He’s a third-year skilled forward who brings versatility on both ends of the floor. Djokovic excels in pick-and-roll situations, where his soft touch around the rim and strong finishing ability makes him a consistent scoring threat. Against Loyola Chicago, Djokovic’s efficiency, physicality and two-way presence could be a decisive factor for VCU.

Key returnee, sophomore guard Brandon Jennings averages 8.9ppg, and Bryant transfer, Barry Evans plays a good all-around game contributing 7.7ppg, 5.3rpg and 2 assists.

The matchup will air nationally on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. VCU opens as 20.5 favorites. Loyola has hit the skids on eight straight losses, giving up a whopping 78 points in these losses. VCU shouldn’t have any issue with this matchup, as they can drop potentially 100 on opponents any night.


VCU Probable Starters – 6-5 F Jadrian Tracey, 6-10 F Lazar Djokovic, 6-4 G Brandon Jennings, 6-1 G Nyk Lewis, 6-8 F Barry Evans

Loyola Probable Starters - Rubin, Amos, TBD, Moore, Dotson


LAST 10 GAMES FOR BOTH SQUADS

Rams: 8-2, averaging 84.4 points, 31.4 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.6 points per game.

Ramblers: 2-8, averaging 65.7 points, 32.5 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 4.3 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 41.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.5 points.


Watch / Listen – Friday night’s game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Mike Corey and John Giannini on the call, and can be listened to Rambler Sports Network with our friends Sudikoff and CT.

Postgame Show - Tune in to Sudikoff on RSN, followed by TalkinBlers Spaces on the X: https://x.com/blerstalking?s=21


Odds: VCU -20.5 (as of 7:30pm 1/29)

Line is down to 18.5 on Draft Kings. Somebody still believes in the Ramblers!

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MBB Scholarship Chart

What I see on the court is our Ramblers are .01 sec off on defense in getting to spots. Then also lack timing in the offensive passing game. But most of all, such as all teams in D-1 hoops need is a big man in the post (this is an obvious) and almost embarrassing to even bring up in a thread, but it's what LU is missing: a capable big man. Rubin is a high post center; he needs a low post center to assist his type of play. Go Ramblers.

Different Ramblers team tonight. Rubin with 17 at the half. Tavarez with a T. Normally I would vent on that T but it is part of the Ramblers overall fight tonight and something they haven't shown all season so ok on that. One of the VCU Big man Belle already with 3 fouls. I'll bet he wasn't (who was) expecting Rubin to play aggressive on offense tonight. 2nd half should be interesting. I'll take any positives out of tonight so we can get these boys playing again like a basketball team.

OK, we lost by 14 and we hung in there. A watchable game. Guys got tired, and VCU a deep bench stayed pretty fresh. Rubin double double 21 pts 10 Rb. Amos 18pts, 7-12 FG and 2-5 from three range. Nic Anderson 8pts and 50% from three range.

LUC to VCU
Fast break 1 to 14
Steals 2 to 10
Paint pts 40 to 28
Bench pts 15 to 51
Pts off TOs 6 to 15
TOs 13 to 7

So a rough night but we had fight in us. In the 2nd we looked more lapse like with the ball but hand it to VCU for their ball pressure.

Go Ramblers!

like classless comment on defense being a step behind. We are easily beaten off the dribble. spend the rest of the possession trying to catch up and eventually we foul...Hate going back to the F4 team but that was beautiful basketball as they forced the action on defense and just destroyed high pick and rolls....

like classless comment on defense being a step behind. We are easily beaten off the dribble. spend the rest of the possession trying to catch up and eventually we foul...Hate going back to the F4 team but that was beautiful basketball as they forced the action on defense and just destroyed high pick and rolls....

Loved what Rubin and Amos provided. Wish Rubin could get offensive involvement and touches like that every single game. Maybe we’d win a few?

Amos has surprising height and length. I did want to point this out after watching in person for the first time the other night. Rubin might have an inch or less on Amos from the height angle. Seems lanky too, imagine if he bulked up just a bit this offseason. Improved rebounding and finishing. There were a few misses at the rim and in the paint last night here. Lots of point paints from them both!

Absolutely hated some of our coaching and subbing last night. Taking Rubin out was the official end of our lead and chance of winning. Why do you keep doing this Drew? Ride who’s hot. Rubin could/should have easily gone for 30+. Then there was a sequence in the second half which really pissed me off an observer when VCU pulled away to make it 7-8ish. Drew pulls out Dotson, yells “what the f-ck are you doing?!?”. In comes Glazkov. Glazkov gets yanked after 5 or 10 seconds. Likely slow to join group huddle. Drew yells at Glazkov as he returns to bench. Then Amos gets scolded for whatever he did. The temper tantrums need to stop.


The more we speculate and talk about it in postgames, seems indicative that Drew is back for next year, and if so much of this core group might get retained…… If you retain the core group to bring back for next year, what assurances do we get that this doesn’t happen again next year? If these guys are so uncoachable, not complimenting one another on the floor, can’t move the ball on offense, and are unwilling to play defense and give effort, why is this even any thought ?