Javon Bennett scored 22 points and Dayton prevented VCU from clinching the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title with a 79-76 victory, ending the Rams’ nine-game win streak

SportsLine's model just revealed its college basketball picks for the Dayton Flyers vs. VCU Rams on Friday night

At-large hopes take hit. Supporting Shulga. Seniors honored. Missing Russell. Jennings, Hill step up. A-10 tournament up next.

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No. 11 in the Atlantic-10 Conference, VCU, enters the A-10 National Championship Tournament, facing off against No. 14 La Salle University. The last time these teams faced each other was on March 1.,

VCU men's basketball (25-5, 15-2 Atlantic 10) is seeking an outright regular-season conference championship on Friday night at the Siegel Center as the Rams host rival Dayton (21-9, 11-6 A-10) in the black and gold's final game of the regular season.

Malachi Smith made both ends of a two-shot foul to get the margin back to three, and VCU scrambled to get a potential game-tying shot, the final miss by Shulga, who had a rough night despite scoring 16 points – he was 3-of-13 from the floor and 1-of-9 from three, while connecting on 9-of-10 from the line.

With conference tournaments getting underway and the NCAA Tournament around the corner, plenty of college basketball teams are looking to strengthen their tournament portfolios. Two of those teams are the VCU Rams and the Boise State Broncos.

One sign in the stands at Virginia Commonwealth’s Siegel Center on Friday paid tribute to former VCU coach and current Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant.

Ashleigh Connor finished a lay-up through contact with two-tenths of a second remaining to lift the No. 14 Explorers who move on to face No. 6 Dayton on Thursday.

The VCU Rams (25-5, 15-2 A-10) take a nine-game win streak into a home matchup with the Dayton Flyers (21-9, 11-6 A-10), winners of three straight. The contest starts at 7 p.m. ET (on ESPN2) on

Max Shulga did not get a good look at the buzzer, but anyone who has watched Virginia Commonwealth play the Dayton Flyers over the years expected the desperation 3-pointer to hit nothing but net. Instead,