In a nutshell: The refurbished VCU Rams opened their 2023-24 season with a loss to the visiting McNeese St. Cowboys. No doubt, VCU's new head coach, Ryan Odom, would like to think that with some seasoning his work-in-progress team could beat the Cowboys in January. Hopefully that will be true.

However, with the uninspired way the Rams played defense tonight, truth be told, they wouldn't have beaten any decent team. Now I expect the new coach will take the blame and assure Rams fans it will get better.

On offense, two of VCU's starting guards led the way. Max Shulga scored 22 points (6-for-10 on treys) and dished for four assists. Zeb Jackson scored 14 points, grabbed seven boards got eight assists. Problem was, they didn't get a lot of help. Much of the game VCU's ballhandling inside was sloppy.

Collectively, the Rams didn't show much confidence. It will Odom's job to fix that.

NOTES (Information provided by Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.).

· McNeese State shot .458 (27-of-59) from the field, including .471 (8-of-17) from 3-point range
· The Cowboys turned the ball over just five times in the game
· VCU shot .306 (11-of-36) from beyond the arc
· MSU outscored VCU 36-22 in the paint and 13-6 off turnovers

BOX SCORE

NEXT UP

On Friday, Nov. 10 the Rams will host Samford. Tipoff at the Siegel Center is at 7 p.m.

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