William D. Mullins Center, Amherst, MA
Sunday, February 11, 2024
2:00PM
Media
TV: USA
Online: USA
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Previews
UMass’ Fan Forum
In the sleepy west of the woody east, Is a valley full, full o’pioneer. The University of Rhode Island Rams head to Amherst to take on UMass. It’s educational. The Rams are looking for back-to-back road wins after a dominating performance in Washington, DC against George Washington. Thanks to Zeke Montgomery, who stepped up admirably, they were able to secure the road win who without David Green. He missed the game earlier this week due to an illness, so hopefully that has subsided & he is ready to go Sunday afternoon.
The UMass Minutemen will be looking for revenge Sunday afternoon as they already lost to the Rams four weeks ago at the Ryan Center. The Rams played one of their best games in a few years & were able to get the win. In that game, UMass was without one of their best players in Matt Cross. Although playing the 4, the offense runs through him. He is leading the team in rebounding at just over 8 per game & leading in assists at 3.3 per game & is second on the team in scoring with 15.7. In their last game at St. Bonaventure, he went for 19, 6, & 5 in a close loss. The 6’10” Saint Francis transfer Josh Cohen is leading the team in scoring at 16.3 per game. He went for 23 & 11 the last time these two teams played. He has struggled of late, averaging just 6 points in 3 of his last 4 games. Third on the team in scoring is Rahsool Diggins. Like I mentioned in the last previous preview of these two teams, he has really upped his game over the previous season. Last year he averaged 4.7 points per game while this year he is at 12.6. What is most remarkable is his free throw shooting. He shot a putrid 36% last season and is somehow now at 80.4% this year. Diggins is also leading the team in three pointers made. The final player to keep an eye on is guard Keon Thompson. He is second on the team in assists with 3 per game & is averaging just over 10 points per game.
As for the Rams, they are looking to build on their last game. Rhody is looking for back-to-back conference road wins in the same season since 2020 when they beat George Washington, George Mason, St Bonaventure, Saint Joseph’s, & VCU all in a row. The Ram newcomer transfers all had games we were hoping for all season. Especially with Zek, it was great to get him back to his early season production. Tuesday was his first double-digit scoring game in 2024. If we can get more out of Fuchs, we are just one step closer to being a complete team. Fuchs playing time has decreased of late, playing 17 or less minutes in the last three games. In the previous 10 games, that happened only once. I am guessing Archie isn't happy with his defensive intensity.
This is a big game on Sunday. Both teams come in at 5-5 in conference play along with Saint Joseph’s & St. Bonaventure, so this game will have important seeding implications. Both teams are currently just 1.5 games out of being in the play in game while conversely just 2 games out of the double bye. Something to keep in mind for this game is that all of the Minutemen’s conference wins are against sub .500 teams, including this lucky win/crazy ending against George Mason. Which one of this teams will be having a Super Sunday? The Rams have lost the last 2 of 3 at the Mullens Center. UMass should be favored by about 8. My prediction, UMass 91 – URI 84. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
14-8, 5-5 in the A10
15-16, 6-12 in the A10 (Last Season)
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 89 (181)
RPI: 67 (124)
KenPom: 98 (181)
BPI: 93 (195)
Barttovik: 97 (176)
Leaders:
Points – Josh Cohen 16.3 (Sr., F)
Rebounds – Matt Cross 8.1 (Sr., F)
Assists – Matt Cross 3.3 (Sr., G) (2.7 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 69-94
H: 42-34, A: 27-55, N: 0-5
Most Recent Matchup: 1/13/24 89-77 W at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 1 – URI
Match-up Predictor: 12.2% Chance of URI Winning