VCU basketball will play its Atlantic-10 home opener in front of an empty arena.

The Rams announced just after 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday that due to an ongoing water outage, which was caused by Monday's winter storm, fans won't be allowed inside the Siegel Center Wednesday for their home game against Fordham.

It was first reported by CBS Sports' college basketball insider Matt Norlander.

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VCU is coming off a 1-1 road trip to open up conference play, with a 77-75 loss at St. Bonaventure and 84-65 win at Loyola Chicago. Ryan Odom's squad is 11-4 overall to start the season, with Power Four wins against Boston College and Miami.

Fordham has dropped each of its first two Atlantic-10 contests to Saint Louis and St. Bonaventure, and is 8-7 overall on the season.

Here's what you need to know on why there won't be fans inside the Siegel Center for VCU-Fordham, including how to watch Wednesday's Atlantic-10 contest:

Why are there no fans at VCU-Fordham basketball tonight?

The reason for VCU and Fordham playing in an empty arena on Wednesday has to do with an ongoing water outage in the Richmond, Virginia area.

According to ABC News, a Richmond water treatment plant lost power early Monday morning and flooded due to a malfunction of the IT system. The incident at the water treatment plant was caused by a winter storm that made its way through the northeast corridor on Monday.

The City of Richmond has been under a water boil advisory since Monday and will likely remain in one until Friday as water pressure continues to build up per VPM News. In a statement on VCU basketball's X (formerly Twitter) account, Rams' athletic director Ed McLaughlin said that the university was expected to get water back in the Siegel Center by Wednesday night — which is why the game wasn't postponed and rescheduled as a whole.

"We had to make the very difficult decision this afternoon to hold our game tonight without any spectators or members of the general public," Ed McLaughlin said in a statement on X. "We wanted to wait as long as possible but water service has not returned to the Siegel Center, despite assurances throughout the last two days that it would.

"We hoped to serve the role of a place for our fans to gather and enjoy a few hours of happiness during a time when so many people in our community have suffered grave challenges."

VCU-Fordham basketball streaming info

• TV: MASN

• Streaming: ESPN+

VCU vs Fordham will be broadcast on MASN, a local TV station in the D.C.,Maryland and Virginia region. Streaming option for the game includes ESPN+, ESPN' subscription streamings service.

VCU-Fordham basketball time today

• Date: Wednesday, Jan. 8

• Time: 7 p.m. ET

VCU and Fordham will tip-off at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 8 from the Siegel Center.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: VCU-Fordham basketball: Why fans aren't allowed inside Siegel Center