Inside the Numbers is a brand new series on Hoop Ten Harbor that looks at some of the most interesting statistics regarding each team in the Atlantic 10 conference. This week, we’ll take a look at the VCU Rams, one of the hotter teams in the league. First, we’ll look at the numbers behind Mo Alie-Cox’s late game heroics against St. Joseph’s. Then, we’ll take a look at what you didn’t know about Ahmed Hamdy Mohamed.
1. Mo Alie-Cox’s Heroics
Mo Alie-Cox was the star of the show down the stretch in VCU’s recent 85-82 road win over St. Joseph’s. The junior is averaging just 9 points per game this season but showed why he’s so clutch last Tuesday. The Rams trailed 70-76 with 3 minutes left to play until Mo Alie-Cox rattled off 10 straight points that gave them the lead once and for all. He simply had it going on at the end of regulation. He got the ball in his hands and knew what to do with it.
10 of Alie-Cox’s 14 points came within a span of less than two minutes on Tuesday. This is the 8th time that he’s been involved on 18% or more of VCU’s possessions this season, according to Kenpom. Throughout these 8 games, he’s averaging 11.9 points per game, almost 3 more than his season average. When Mo Alie-Cox is getting involved, he’s usually effective on the block, so the Rams would benefit in feeding him the rock more often. Mo Alie-Cox missed just one field goal on Tuesday, going 6 of 7 from two-point range. 6 field goals ties the for the second highest amount of shots made in a game this season for the junior. He had 7 field goals against North Florida back in December. Mo Alie-Cox only had one game with 6 points or more all of last season. Every one of his career field goal attempts have been 2 pointers, except for one three as a freshman.
2. What you didn’t know about Ahmed Hamdy Mohamed
Believe it or not, Ahmed Mohamed is considered a major contributor by Kenpom, as he’s involved in over 26.2% of the possessions that he’s on the floor for. He leads the Rams in this stat, slightly edging Melvin Johnson who’s involved in 24.6% of possessions. This means that when Mohamed is on the court, he’s the Rams’ most used player on offense. This is very interesting considering the fact that he’s only averaging 13.2 minutes per game. While he may not see a lot of time on the court, he does get the ball in his hand often. When looking at his numbers, this starts to make a little bit more sense.
Mohamed is averaging 7 points and is pulling down 4.4 boards per game. His scoring efficiency is incredible given his time on the court. He’s averaging the fifth most points per game on the team while averaging the ninth most minutes per game this season. In addition, he’s tied for fourth in rebounding. This is huge for a player who’s considered to have more of an “off-the-bench” role on this team. He’s efficient with the ball when he’s on the court and knows how to score despite limited playing time. In addition, he takes the second most amount of shots when he’s on the court with 26.4% of the team’s attempts. What’s interesting about Ahmed Mohamed is that he doesn’t necessarily get a lot of playing time, but when he does, he scores a lot. Look for the Rams to utilize him more often as the season progresses.
