Men’s basketball notebook

Black and Blue Classic preview:

When VCU takes the short trip over to University of Richmond’s campus for a nighttime game vs. The Spiders Saturday, they’ll be carrying with them a six-game winning streak over their cross-town rivals.

However, that will count for very little when the ball tips off.

Head coach Chris Mooney’s side is one of the hottest teams in the commonwealth right now with a record of 7-2. The Spiders have already downed big-name teams this year in Arizona State and No. 8 Purdue. They’ve also received three votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Richmond also was one of only two teams to have defeated CAA nemesis Old Dominion thus far this campaign.

Richmond is also 4-0 at home at the Robins Center while VCU are 1-1 on the road (or 3-2 if including neutral site games).

New community outreach program for Rams:

When second-year head coach Shaka Smart was an assistant at Clemson, he took part in a holiday event that involved taking local children out for a shopping spree.

Now leading his own program, he decided to have his players and staff participate in a similar event.

Last Sunday, Smart and the team met with 24 members of the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Richmond at the Libbie Place Target in Henrico County and traveled around the store as the children were allotted $100 each to shop with.

The event is not the first community outreach program the Rams have participated in this season; a few weeks ago, players accompanied Smart to VCU’s MCV Campus to meet with children staying in the hospital for care.

How VCU’s out-of-conference opponents are faring:

Many bracketologists and prognosticators are predicting a multiple-bid year for the CAA come Selection Sunday, but if VCU wants to have a chance at an at-large bid, they’ll need their out-of-conference opponents to have as good of seasons as possible the rest of the season.

VCU’s biggest out-of-conference win thus far is undoubtedly their victory over 11-time National Champion UCLA in the NIT Season Tip Off at Madison Square Garden. So for the Rams, the better the Bruins do the rest of the way, the better for them.

Unfortunately for VCU, UCLA isn’t looking too good early on. The Bruins – who feature one of the youngest lineups in the country and have no seniors on their roster – are 3-4 thus far on the season. UCLA was, however, picked to finish third in the PAC10, which would be no easy feat in one of the nation’s most competitive conferences.