Rhode Island (17-14, 10-9) vs. No. 1 seed VCU (25-6, 16-2)
Atlantic 10 Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York; Friday, 11 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Rhode Island and VCU are prepared to square off in the quarterfinals of the A10 tournament. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last went at it on Feb. 19, when the Rams outshot Rhode Island 50 percent to 30.2 percent and hit nine more 3-pointers en route to a 34-point victory.
TEAM LEADERS: VCU's Marcus Evans has averaged 14.2 points while De'Riante Jenkins has put up 11.3 points. For Rhode Island, Cyril Langevine has averaged 14.9 points and 10 rebounds while Jeff Dowtin has put up 15.2 points.
OFFENSIVE THREAT: Fatts Russell has either made or assisted on 46 percent of all Rhode Island field goals over the last three games. Russell has 28 field goals and 15 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: Rhode Island is 0-9 when scoring fewer than 63 points and 17-5 when scoring at least 63.
UNDEFEATED WHEN: Rhode Island is a perfect 5-0 when the team records 10 or more steals. The Rams are 12-14 when they steal the ball fewer than 10 times.
DID YOU KNOW: The VCU defense has allowed only 61.2 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Rams eighth among Division I teams. The Rhode Island offense has averaged 69.9 points through 31 games (ranked 228th, nationally).
