The First Road Test: Tonight's game gives the Black & Gold its first road challenge under Head Coach Shaka Smart. Last season, the Rams blasted their opponents for a 13-1 mark in the comforts of the Verizon Wireless Arena, but the road was a different story. VCU went just 7-6 in road contests, including dropping three of its final four.

Getting Started on the Right Foot: For the fourth straight year, VCU got the year started out on the right foot with a 77-51 season-opening victory over Bethune-Cookman at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

The J-Rod Effect: No Eric Maynor? No problem. Maybe not to that extent, but junior point guard Joey Rodriguez showed that he is ready to help fill the void left by the former Ram great after pouring in a team-high 17 points in the Rams' 77-51 victory over Bethune-Cookman last Friday. He also picked up four steals and dished out two assists, while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and connecting on 3-of-6 from long range.

Road Opener Blues: Road openers have been the exact opposite of the home openers for the Rams. VCU has dropped four of its last five road openers, including its last two. In 2008-09, the Black & Gold dropped a 92-86 decision at Rhode Island and the previous year, the Rams dropped a 64-55 contest at Hampton.

Bombs Away!:  After drilling double-digit three-pointers just five times in 2008-09, VCU decided to get the party started early this year with 11 field-goals from long range in its season-opening victory over Bethune-Cookman. In the first half alone, the Rams tied last year's season-high for the first half with seven, behind two each from Rodriguez and sophomore Jay Gavin.

Future Rams:  Wednesday, the 11th, was National Signing Day and Smart and his staff landed two outstanding recruits with the signings of forward Reco McCarter (Goldsboro, N.C./Wayne Country Day) and guard Rob Brandenburg (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln).