Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
Saturday, January 28, 2023
2:00PM
Media
TV: YourView
Online: ESPN +
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network
Previews
La Salle Fan Forum
Wins are fun! That’s it, that’s the preview. OK, maybe I will write a little more. Rhody is coming off their best game since a home win against a 20-3 Davidson team in February of last year. The Rams look to build on the great performance Wednesday night as they take on the La Salle Explorers Saturday afternoon. Rhody is looking for revenge after losing to La Salle earlier this season in Philly. Prior to that game, URI had an eight-game winning streak against the Explorers. After beating URI, La Salle beat their next opponent (UMass on the road) but have lost 4 in a row since.
Leading the Explorer is sophomore guard Khalil Brantley, who is leading the team in both points & assists, 14.1 & 3.9 respectively. He is the Explorers only double-digit scorer, but senior Josh Nickelberry is right on the cusp with 9.9 points per game. He has shot poorly over his last 6 games, at just 26.5%. As of late, Explorers coach Fran Dunphy has not been pleased with Brantley, Nickelberry, guards Jhamir Brickus & Anwar Gill. All 4 of them sat to start the game even with them being 4 of their top 5 scorers. Per Dunphy he said, “Their sense of timing was different than mine. We’ll just leave it at that.” Will be interesting to see how many minutes they play in this game against Rhody. Downlow, they have the Drame twins, Fousseyni & Hassan. In the last matchup against Rhody they had a combined 6 blocks to go along with 15 points & 14 rebounds.
If Rhody can play like they did on Wednesday night, they should be able to pick up the home win. Wednesday night Brayon Freeman is what all Rhody fans were waiting for when he announced he was transferring to the Ocean State. He did a great job filling up the stat sheet & went a blistering 5 for 11 from deep while the rest of team shot a paltry 1 for 11. Rhody was able to get the win even with Dayton shooting 50% from the floor because they had less turnovers, out rebounded & out hustled the Flyers. Play smart, limit turnovers and I see Rhody grabbing their 4th conference win of the season. They will need this win to try to stay out of the bottom 4 of the conference to avoid the play in games come conference play. Currently only La Salle & Loyola are below Rhody in the standings. Rhody, UMass, Davidson & Saint Joseph’s are all tied at 3-5
There should be a decent crowd at Saturday’s game. The students are back on campus & with a 2:00 pm start, their hangovers should just start to be subsiding so they can head to the game to start it all over again. This game is also part of the five-game mini plan, so that could also help to number of people in the stands. Rhody should be favored by about 6 points in this one. Although Rhody is just 8-12 ATS, I think they win & but not so sure about the cover. My prediction is URI 70 – La Salle 65. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
8-12, 2-5 in the A10
11-19, 5-13 in the A10 (Last Season)
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 275 (229)
RPI: 238 (239)
KenPom: 266 (208)
BPI: 250 (222)
Sagarin: 247 (190)
Barttovik: 258 (203)
Leaders:
Points – Khalil Brantley 14.1 (Soph., G)
Rebounds – Fousseyni Drame 5.6 (Sr., F)
Assists – Khalil Brantley 3.9 (Soph., G) (2.8 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 33-10
H: 13-4, A: 16-6, N: 4-0
Most Recent Matchup: 1/7/23 77-75 L at La Salle
Most Recent Win Streak: 1 – La Salle
Match-up Predictor: 71.8% Chance of URI Winning