Princeton Tigers vs. VCU Rams Prediction & Game Preview - 3/15/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Stuart C. Siegel Center, Richmond, VA

Where to watch: ESPN

DraftKings: VCU -7

BetMGM: VCU -6.5

Caesars: VCU -7

Princeton: 23-6

VCU: 21-9 

The Princeton tigers showed for the majority of this season why they were one of the best, if not the best in the Ivy League. Had it not been for one shortcoming against the Yale Bulldogs in the conference title game, Princeton would be in the NCAA tournament at this moment.

Not facing the VCU Rams in the NIT.

Princeton is coming off a 66- 64 loss to Yale in the conference title game. Tosan Evbuomwan led Princeton with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting, but the biggest reason Princeton fell behind and had to climb all the way back into the game was due to going to the line just 5 total times and making only four.

The Ivy League only turned out to be a one bid league, so Princeton will not be dancing in the tournament unlike their Yale counterparts. But Princeton is probably the overall best team in this conference, tournament withstanding. They have a bunch of guys that know how to pass the ball around the perimeter, Henry able to get any kind of shot they want at a reasonable rate.

The key for Princeton is going to be relied upon at the free throw line. You can't win a game attempting just five free throws and hoping for a pristine outcome. Princeton is going to be in a different environment than I think they anticipated, and having to go on the road for their first game is not going to be an easy task especially against the program with as much pristine as VCU.

As simple as it might be, Princeton just needs to play a very simple game. Don't get too flashy, don't get too overconfident.

There might be no shame into losing to the conference champions, as Princeton could attest. But the VCU Rams are no exception to that rule either. They didn't even make it out of the quarter-finals in the Atlantic 10 conference tournament before losing to the eventual champion Richmond Spiders 75-64.

Rams guard Vince Williams had 18 points, but no one could stop Richmond guard Jacob Gilyard with his game-high 32 points for the eventual champions.

VCU is certainly one of those teams that ran out of gas toward the end of the regular season, and even in the tournament. The Rams had an 8 game winning streak going that brought their conference record to 14-3. Despite that strong run in conference play, that included a win on the road against fellow NCAA tournament invite Davidson, VCU coming up short in the conference tournament likely sealed their fate for this matchup.

Perhaps the most shocking thing of this whole tournament was the fact that VCU defeated Richmond both times this season before ultimately dropping the rubbermatch in the conference tournament. Again, no shame in them losing to the champs, but one has to wonder what could’ve been had they finished the job as expected.

I don't ever perceive the NIT to have much upsets, so I'm going to stick with the home team in this one. VCU has a history of getting the job done when it comes to tournament time, and even though the Rams came up short in the conference tournament, I'd expect a nice bounceback postseason. VCU by 10

Princeton is 33-16 ATS as a road dog between 6.5 and 12 points.

The over is 9-2 in Princeton's non-conference games this season.

Atlantic 10 teams off back to back losses are 11-4 ATS vs. non-conference foes in the post-season.

PG: Jaelin Llewellyn

SG: Ethan Wright

SF: Ryan Langborg

PF: Tosan Evbuomwan

C: Drew Friberg

PG: Ace Baldwin

SG: KeShawn Curry

SF: Jayden Nunn

PF: Vince Williams Jr.

C: Hason Ward