Men’s Hoops Set For Clash At VCU

The Alabama men’s basketball team will look to snap a two-game losing streak when it travels to Richmond, Va., to take on the VCU Rams on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.. The contest will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports Network.

The match-up will have a little extra meaning as UA head coach Anthony Grant will return to the Siegel Center at VCU for the first time since coming to Tuscaloosa four years ago. During his three seasons at the helm of the Rams basketball program (2006-09), Grant led his teams to a 76-25 record, three straight Colonial Athletic Association regular season titles and two NCAA tournament appearances.

“I say this all the time and I know it sounds like a broken record, but that never goes into my train of thought,” Grant said about his return to VCU. “It’s never about me, it’s about our team. VCU has an excellent team that we have to get prepared for. I think (VCU head coach) Shaka Smart and his staff have done a tremendous job with their team. They are a difficult matchup with the way that they play. I know from coaching there that environment will be electric. I’m sure I’ll see a lot of familiar faces – it will be great to see people. But right now, the focus is trying to prepare my team to go in there and perform well and try to get a win.”

Alabama (6-2) will certainly be well-rested heading into Saturday’s showdown. The last time the Crimson Tide played a game was back on Dec. 5, when it fell to Dayton, 81-76, at Coleman Coliseum. The 10-day break is the longest an Alabama team had since the 2000-01 season.

“The obvious thing is that it’s been a long time since our guys have been on the court in a competitive situation, so we are looking forward to getting back to game action,” Grant said. “With the break that we have had, 10 days; our guys have been able to focus academically and finish the semester with finals and everything that they have had. We were able to get on the practice court and work on some things that we need to work on as we get prepared to play this weekend.”

UA continues to be led by a trio of guards in junior Trevor Releford and sophomores Rodney Cooper and Trevor Lacey. Releford tops the team in points (16.9 ppg) and steals (15). He is also one of the top three-point shooters (46.4 percent) and free throw shooters (93.9 percent) in the Southeastern Conference.

Cooper and Lacey come into the contest averaging 14.1 points per contest. Lacey tops the team with 4.0 assists and 17 threes made, while Cooper is the Tide’s top rebounder at 4.7 boards a game.

VCU (6-3) is riding a three-game winning streak coming into its contest vs. the Crimson Tide. Most recently, the Rams won at Old Dominion, 83-70, behind Troy Daniels’ 24 points on the strength of a school-record-tying eight three-pointers on the night.

Sophomore guard Treveon Graham leads four players in double-figure scoring with 15.0 points a game. Senior Juvonte Reddic is second on the squad in scoring at 14.4 ppg, and leads the team in rebounding (8.2 rpg), field goal percentage (59.1 percent) and minutes (29.7) per game. Daniels (10.3 ppg) and Darius Theus (10.0 ppg) also averaging in double figures for VCU.

Alabama owns a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series against VCU, including taking a 72-64 decision on Nov. 27, 2011 in Coleman Coliseum. That game featured 10 ties and 16 lead changes before the Crimson Tide pulled away down the stretch.

You can hear the game locally on 95.3-FM.