VCU coach concerned after losing rebound battle to Rhode Island

VCU plays at Dayton at 8 p.m. Wednesday

Virginia Commonwealth will enter an 8 p.m. Wednesday game against the Dayton Flyers at UD Arena with hopes of putting a 69-59 loss at Rhode Island behind it.

VCU’s nine-game winning streak ended Saturday in Kingston, R.I. Coach Will Wade didn’t sound shocked about the loss Monday when he spoke to the media on the weekly Atlantic 10 coaches teleconference.

“We hadn’t been playing great,” Wade said, “and a lot of that stuff caught up to us at Rhode Island.”

VCU beat Dayton 73-68 on Jan. 27 in Richmond. VCU (23-6, 13-3) has been consistently strong at home, winning five of eight games by double digits. It has been a different story in road games. VCU has suffered three losses on the road in A-10 play and easily could have had two more at St. Bonaventure and George Washington if not for miraculous finishes.

VCU beat Dayton in part because it dominated the boards 41-24. It lost to Rhode Island by losing the rebounding battle 48-31.

“They were more physical than us, especially down in the paint,” Wade said. “We didn’t do a great job in the paint against Saint Louis earlier in the week. That really showed against Rhode Island.”

Bracketology update: In his latest NCAA tournament bracket prediction Monday, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had two A-10 teams in his bracket: Dayton and VCU. He lists Rhode Island as one of the first four teams on the wrong side of the bubble.

Lunardi predicts No. 8 seed Dayton will play No. 9 seed Virginia Tech in Tulsa with the winner likely to play No. 1 seed Baylor. He has No. 9 seed VCU matched up with No. 8 Oklahoma State in Buffalo.

Poll news: Dayton moved closer to the Associated Press top 25 Monday. They are 28th, just behind Minnesota and Oklahoma State. Seventeen voters ranked the Flyers this week. Two voters had them as high as No. 22. VCU is 35th.

Final game: Dayton closes the regular season at 8 p.m. Saturday at George Washington (16-13, 8-8). The Colonials have won three games in a row and four of their last five. They're 6-2 at home in A-10 play with losses to Richmond and VCU.

George Washington leads the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (39.8).

“We are shooting the ball well,” coach Maurice Joseph said. “The biggest factor in that is our offense being able to move the ball and not allowing it to stick. We’re playing inside out and getting better 3s. Guys are being unselfish with the ball. They’re passing up good shots for great shots.”

Rallying Rams: Rhode Island (19-9, 11-5) enters the final week tied with Richmond (17-11, 11-5) for third place. Rhode Island has won three straight games since losing back-to-back games against Davidson and Fordham and closes the regular season with a road game Wednesday at St. Joseph's and a home game Saturday against Davidson.

“We’re obviously thrilled with the way we have responded since the back-to-back losses,” Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley said. “To go win at George Mason and at La Salle and then beat a very physical VCU program with the championship pedigree they have, it was obviously a great week for us. I just love the resiliency the team has shown really throughout the season. Playing a difficult schedule, dealing with the injuries that have come our way would have buried some other programs. This is the healthiest we’ve been since the second half of the Providence game (on Dec. 3).”

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