University of Rhode Island vs Fordham University
Rose Hill Gymnasium, Bronx, NY
Saturday, March 9, 2024
1:00PM
Rose Hill Gymnasium, Bronx, NY
Saturday, March 9, 2024
1:00PM
Media
TV: N/A
Online: ESPN +
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network
Live Stats: N/A
Previews
Fordham’s Fan Forum
The University of Rhode Island Rams head to the Bronx to close out their regular season Saturday afternoon against the Rams of Fordham. As we are all painfully aware of, Rhody has lost 7 in a row & 12 of 14. Somehow this game still has implications to final seedings in the A10 tournament. Rhody is locked in to playing the opening night, but I believe they can finish anywhere between 11th & 15th. Normally I would say that URI is looking for a win here to gain some momentum heading into the A10 tournament, but this team has clearly given up. Speaking of giving up, I may have to pickup this book…
After a promising start to the Keith Urgo era at Fordham last season, the Bronx Rams have struggled this season. They are just 6-11 in conference play, one game ahead of Rhody. They have some horrible losses at home to the likes of NJIT & Central Connecticut. Part of Fordham’s struggles could be linked to poor 3-point shooting as they are in the upper-200s amongst all D1 schools shooting it at just 31.8% for the year. Speaking of Keith Urgo, he is comically listed as being 5’11”. Unless he had a surgery to remove both shin bones, dude is no taller than 5’6”.
Fun fact: the first ever collegiate basketball featured on tv was Fordham when they played Pittsburgh at MSG. By my calculations, that was probably the last meaningful game Fordham played on tv. Zing! Looking at their current roster, the Rams of Fordham have a balanced offensive attack. Leading the team in scoring is senior guard Kyle Rose. He had his first 20+ point performance of the season the last time these teams played & has eclipsed that benchmark three more times. All it takes is a game against Rhody’s porous defense to get your offensive game going. UTSA transfer Japhet Medor is second on the team in scoring at 10 per game & is also the team leader in 3 pointers made. He has been playing limited minutes as of late, failing to play at least 20 minutes in his last 4 games & has scored only a total of 14 points over his last 5 games. Will Richardson is third on the team in scoring at 9.5 points per game. Both Richardson & Medor are not terribly efficient shooters, both shooting it around 33% on the season. Defensively they do have 2 players on the preseason all-defensive team in Abdou Tsimbila & the aforementioned Kyle Rose. Tsimbila is leading the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game & has almost half of the teams blocks with 68. He did foul out the last time these teams played. Fordham does force turnovers unlike Rhody but do turn the ball over at a slightly higher rate.
As for the Rhody, well I really don’t have anything else to say about them so let’s jump to the matchup. Can the Rams of Rhode Island pull off the upset win on the road. Hell, that may even be dependent on which players decide to even make the trip. House has STRUGGLED mightily offensively over the last 3 games, shooting it at less than 22%. Will Fuchs be back in the starting lineup over Brown? What does it even matter? My prediction, Fordham 75 – URI 61. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
12-18, 6-11 in the A10
25-8, 12-6 in the A10 (Last Season)
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 179 (226)
RPI: 204 (185)
KenPom: 193 (227)
BPI: 186 (230)
Barttovik: 181 (210)
Leaders:
Points – Kyle Rose 10.9 (Sr., G)
Rebounds – Abdou Tsimbila 6.3 (Sr., F)
Assists – Antrell Charlton 3.3 (Sr., G) (1.6 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 41-32
H: 21-12, A: 19-19, N: 1-1
Most Recent Matchup: 1/24/24 71-68 L at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 2 – Fordham
Match-up Predictor: 28.8% Chance of URI Winning
