Preview: Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth

No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth doesn't control its own destiny for an Atlantic 10 regular-season championship, but a win over Richmond at home Wednesday would keep the Rams' chances alive. The last time these crosstown rivals met, Jan. 24, the Spiders snapped Virginia Commonwealth's 13-game win streak with an 86-74 overtime victory.

The Rams enter this edition of the Black & Blue Classic having won two of three in a crucial stretch against first-place No. 15 Saint Louis, Butler and Xavier. For Richmond, the win over VCU wasn't the turning point it had hoped. Since then, the Spiders have gone 4-5 with just one road win. But with wins in their last two games -- Richmond closes with last-place Duquesne on Saturday -- the Spiders can improve their conference tournament seed.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network.

ABOUT RICHMOND (17-12, 7-7 Atlantic 10): Though the Spiders beat Virginia Commonwealth last time without junior forward Derrick Williams, it sure will be nice to have him back Wednesday. Williams, Richmond's leading rebounder and third-leading scorer, seems to have returned to form with a 17-point performance last time out. Another player getting hot at the right time is junior guard Cedrick Lindsay. He's scored in double figures in eight of his last 10 games and is averaging 17.1 points over his last six. Lindsay has been known to cause problems for Virginia Commonwealth, scoring a career-high 22 against the Rams last year.

ABOUT NO. 19 VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH (23-6, 11-3): The Rams are coming off a game in which they forced a season-high 23 turnovers. But they didn't bring that kind of pressure to the January meeting with Richmond, which coughed the ball up only 13 times. Creating opportunities off giveaways will be crucial Wednesday night. "You can always see the pressure on film, but once you've got to deal with it in live play, it's kind of hard to deal with," senior guard Darius Theus told the Associated Press.

TIP-INS

1. Richmond hasn't won at the Siegel Center since 2001.

2. This is the first time since 2000-01 that the former Colonial Athletic Association foes have met twice in a season.

3. The Spiders have won eight of their last 13 against ranked opponents.

PREDICTION: No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth 75, Richmond 70