Week #16 begins. The A-10 has no teams in either national polls or getting votes in the other category.
Duke takes over the top spot in both the AP and USA Today polls after Tennessee's loss at Kentucky. Gonzaga holds the #2 position in both polls. Virginia takes third, Kentucky fourth and Tennessee falls to #5
With the loss to Fordham, the URI key measurements continue to tumble:
NET - 139, down 9
BPI - 135, down 3
Sagarin - 134, down 10
Pomeroy - 153, down 5
A URI distinction, unwanted as it is, shows the Rams as #353 in three point shooting, 25.4% versus last year's 35.2%. The shooting % in last three games is 12.7, no one is close to that number; next worse is Delaware State at 18.8%
Consistent with this achievement, Fatts Russell is not only the worst three point shooter in the nation this season, a data check of CBB basketball stats since 2010 shows his 17.9% to be the worst in the last eight seasons.
Fatts disproves the old adage "the best thing about a freshman is they become sophomores". Here is that comparison through the Fordham game.
Metric Fr. Soph. PT, avg. 18.0 34.2 FG, % .352 .313 3PT, % .298 .179 FT, % .810 .752 A/T 53/27 85/54 Ratio 1.96 1.57 Off. Rating 102.3 91.7 Def. Rating 101.6 100.2 Usage % 22.9, 4th 26.3, 1st
The cumulative record to date for URI OOC opponents now stands at 163-142, .534, a slight decrease from previous week. For whatever reasons, this year's OOC schedule is shaping up as one of the weakest in recent memory. Four of the 12 opponents have below .500 records and six - Bryant, PC, Holy Cross, West Virginia, Charlotte and Middle Tennessee - reside at or near the bottom of their conferences. We now know that a mediocre 7-5 record in a weak OOC schedule was the early warning sign of problems in A-10 play.
No Monday games in the A-10.
In games involving URI OOC opponents:
Boston U. at Holy Cross, 7:05 PM. On CBSSN.
#18 Kansas State at West Virginia, 9 PM. On ESPN.
