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RICHMOND, Va. – The nation's two leaders in steals will meet Thursday when Eastern Kentucky University's men's basketball team plays at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will air live on Comcast SportsNet. The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com.
VCU (6-2) leads NCAA Division I with 104 steals and an average of 13 per game. Eastern Kentucky (6-2) is second in both categories. The Colonels have 95 steals, an average of 11.9 per game.
EKU led North Carolina State by 10 in the first half, but couldn't hold off a second half rally in a 75-56 loss on Saturday. The Colonels led 22-12 with 5:08 left in the first half and had a 27-21 advantage at the break. Eastern trailed by only three, 54-51, with six minutes left. However, the Wolfpack went on a 17-0 run to put the game away.
Glenn Cosey led EKU with 14 points.
Corey Walden finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Virginia Commonwealth went on the road and left Nashville Sunday with an 81-68 victory over Belmont. Juvonte Reddic, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, led VCU with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He made 7-of-13 from the field, 4-of-4 from the line and had three steals. Briante Weber, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, had five points, four steals and four assists. The Rams totaled 15 steals, leading to a total of 21 turnovers for Belmont.
Both teams feast off their opponents turnovers. The Colonels foes average 18 turnovers per game while the Rams are taking advantage of 20.5 turnovers per game. Eastern has 63 fewer turnovers than its opponents this season and has out-scored teams by 119 points off turnovers.
Eastern has held six of its eight opponents to less than 30 percent shooting from three-point range. The Colonels' last two opponents have made just 23 percent from deep, including North Carolina State's 2-for-14 performance.
EKU leads the all-time series with Virginia Commonwealth, 3-1. All four games were played between 1969-70 and 1972-73. VCU won the last meeting, 69-66.