KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

The release of the latest rankings today in both the AP Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Poll finds no A-10 teams in the rankings. Given that URI has lost three of its last four games, it comes as no surprise that the Rams got no votes in either poll, nor did any other A-10 school.

In the AP poll, Duke holds the #5 slot and with their Butler loss, Cincinnati falls to #25. Valparaiso got 9 votes.

In the USA Today poll, Duke grabs the #4 position and Cincinnati gets #23.

Villanova continues as the #1 ranked team in both polls.

The cumulative won-lost record of URI OOC opponents now stands at 67-36, a winning percentage of .593, a slight decline from the previous week.

Only A-10 game on Monday night is Longwood at George Mason. 7 PM.

No URI OOC opponents have games tonight.

Only other games of some interest tonight centers on a doubleheader in the inaugural Under Armour Reunion tournament at MSG. In the first game, Boston College faces off against Auburn at 6:30 PM. On FS1. This is Auburn's first ever visit to Madison Square Garden. The second game features a match-up between # 16 and unbeaten South Carolina and Seton Hall. 9 PM. On FS1. These games and future ones will feature programs that sport Under Armour uniforms. Can Nike and Addidas be far behind in organizing this kind of tourney?? But hand it to Under Armour they got the mecca of basketball, MSG, as their tournament site.

George Mason wins its eighth straight game 90-67, but then again Longwood is a pretty terrible team.

Finally, Go Billy Gilman!!!

GMU is playing well may be middle of the pack A10

Reflecting that many schools are in exam period this week, the action in college ball continues to be slim.

Only A-10 game on Tuesday night is North Carolina A&T at UMass. 7 PM.

Games involving URI OOC opponents:

Dartmouth tries to break their losing streak as they face off at Hartford. 7 PM
.
Texas Southern at #25 Cincinnati. 7 PM. On ESPN3

UMass was down 29-11 late in the 1st and were still down at the half to (1-8!!)North Carolina A&T. Rallied and won 65-59.

Almost a horrible, horrible loss for the A10 that has already had a few.

Besides the near debacle at UMass, Dartmouth came unglued in the final minutes to suffer their ninth loss of season, this one versus Hartford, 70-66.

Meanwhile Cincinnati did what all good teams do with inferior opposition on their home court as they routed Texas Southern, 96-58.

Two A-10 games on tap on Wednesday night:

Saint Joseph's at Princeton. 5 PM. On ESPNU.

Saint Louis at Southern Illinois. 8 PM. On ESPN3.

Games involving URI OOC opponents .

Middle Tennessee at Belmont. 8 PM.

Saint Joseph's got a road win over Princeton, 76-68.

Saint Louis, leading by two at the half, was outclassed in the second half, losing at Southern Illinois, 70-55.

Middle Tennessee, front runner in Conference USA, moved its record up to 10-1 as they secured a key road win at Belmont, 79-66.

Another slow night for relevant college basketball games with the only game an encounter between George Washington and UCF at GW's Smith Center, 7 PM. UCF sports a 7-2 record with an impressive road win at UMass and an inexplicable loss at home to Ivy Penn. UCF's most notable player is the 7-6 sophomore center from Senegal, Tacko Fall, the tallest player in the NCAA this season. Fall is a rebounding machine averaging about 13 per game. He pulled down 17 rebounds in a creditable losing effort against #1 Villanova. Fall, however, is a wretched FT shooter with a .341 success rate. I guess one strategy to stop him from getting easy buckets is to foul him.

In Thursday night action GW beat Central Florida, 74-59, with a strong second half surge. GW was able to contain Tacko Fall, the NCAA leader in rebounds and FG%. For those interested in comparative scores since UCF team had earlier beaten UMass at Mullins, note that UCF's top scorer, starting guard, BJ Taylor was not in action against GW and has been sidelined since he broke his thumb in the game against UMass.

No action at all on Friday night.

......high noon today, FS1, Mike Aaman and Wagner at the Dump......

After a relatively quiet week, A-10 action picks up on Saturday with these games:

Texas Tech at Richmond. 12:30 PM. On ESPNU.

In the Big Four Classic at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, St. Bonaventure meets Niagara. 1 PM.

In a continuation of the Gotham Classic at campus sites, Kennesaw State at UMass. 1 PM.

Florida Gulf Coast at La Salle. 2 PM.

SIU-Edwardsville at Saint Louis. 5 PM.

Dayton versus Northwestern in the State Farms Chicago Legends tournament at the United Center in Chicago. 7 PM. On BTN.

Davidson versus #3 Kansas in the Jayhawk Shootout at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. 7 PM. On ESPN2.

10-1 Middle Tennessee at VCU. 7 PM.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Belmont at Green Bay. Postponed.

Wagner at Providence. 12 PM. On FS1.

Fairleigh Dickinson at #25 Cincinnati. 2:30 PM. On ESPN3.

UT Rio Grande Valley at Houston. 8 PM. On ESPN3.

Indiana State at Valparaiso. 8 PM. On ESPN3.

First A-10 results of day are in as Richmond loses at home to Texas Tech. 79-72. This was a close game from the start until TJ Cline made a layup to cut TT lead to 3 with 13 minutes left in game and then Richmond went cold and didn't score a point for the next eight minutes. Game over.

Key question: How did Richmond get a P5 school to come to their Robins Center and URI couldn't get one to come to Kingston??

Obadiah wrote:First A-10 results of day are in as Richmond loses at home to Texas Tech. 79-72. This was a close game from the start until TJ Cline made a layup to cut TT lead to 3 with 13 minutes left in game and then Richmond went cold and didn't score a point for the next eight minutes. Game over.

Key question: How did Richmond get a P5 school to come to their Robins Center and URI couldn't get one to come to Kingston??

They've also had Wake Forest in their building this year.

Maybe it's because they had a couple NCAA tournament appearances a few years ago??
Idk

Providence went on a 31-0 run in the Wagner game? Yikes. Only won by 22...so the rest of the game was pretty even?

How does a team get 31 straight points though....

In other A-10 games today, St. Bonaventure beat a pretty bad Niagara team, 79-69.

Also, after a close first half, UMass surged in the second half to beat Kennesaw State, 95-77. Luwane Pipkins tied a school record by hitting on eight treys and contributed a total of 27 points in the game. You have to be impressed with the performance of this young UMass team so far this season. It will be a tough one for URI when they come to play at Ryan in mid January considering UMass shooting power. Also, Dan Hurley has had problems winning against UMass as last season's two out of three losses and overall 2-8 record attests.

If you're looking for entertainment, tune into CBS right now. UK-UNC is an absolute pleasure to watch. Has the feel of a Final 4/National Title game in December.

BPR2010 wrote:If you're looking for entertainment, tune into CBS right now. UK-UNC is an absolute pleasure to watch. Has the feel of a Final 4/National Title game in December.

Yep...my gosh...all those...baskets.....whaddya call that? When teams put the ball in the hoop a lot?

Wow...flipped over to see the beginning of Davidson-Kansas...watched Davidson go down 10ish...
Back to UNC/KY at 95-95...great finish...Back to Davidson/KU...Davidson up 1. Great stuff....

Conference has been extremely disappointing this year, not many big wins and tons of missed opportunities. Conference might get lucky to get 3 teams in this year.

Dayton lost a tough one.
Were down 40-17 at the half.
Made a comeback, but they were in way too big a hole.
Northwestern was their last chance at a good non-conference win.
VCU got a good one though. Beat Middle Tennessee.
VCU and Davidson look like the best teams in the conference right now.

A10 definetly underperforming for sure

How bout Monk for Ky tossing in 47 wow

PeterRamTime wrote:VCU and Davidson look like the best teams in the conference right now.

Looking at their resumes so far, we're pretty close to VCU though they might be a tick better. I'd argue our resume right now is better than Davidson's.

The A-10 went 5-3 in Saturday action.

Davidson held a one point advantage at the half versus #3 Kansas but the Wildcats wilted in the second half to lose decisively, 89-71.

Dayton lost to Northwestern, 67-64, in a game that shows the perils of long scoring droughts early in a game. Northwestern came out fast to build a 11-0 lead. Dayton got closer on a trey with 11 minutes and then for the next nine minutes Dayton didn't score a point and the Flyers found themselves in 23 point hole at the half. Dayton continued its sleep walking in the first 8 minutes of the second stanza and then suddenly found their shooting, but it was too little, too late.

VCU beat a very good Middle Tennessee team, 80-77. VCU started out fast, but MT quickly made it a game and took the lead briefly in second half, but while challenged VCU kept its cool and, however close the game became, VCU maintained its edge.

Sunday A-10 action, in addition to URI hosting Holy Cross at 12:30 PM, includes two other games:

Fordham versus Rutgers in the Hoops Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. 1 PM.

Saint Joseph's travels to Illinois State in a Hawks versus Redbirds match-up of fowls. 4 PM. On ESPN3.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Georgia State at Old Dominion. 2 PM.

Dartmouth at LIU Brooklyn. 2 PM.

RhodeIslandRams wrote:Providence went on a 31-0 run in the Wagner game? Yikes. Only won by 22...so the rest of the game was pretty even?

How does a team get 31 straight points though....

It was closer that it looked because Cooley emptied the bench. The walk ons gave up eight straight to end the game.

Also in Saturday's action, #25 Cincinnati did what all really good teams do when facing inferior competition on its home court, as they mauled Fairleigh Dickinson, 119-68. Cincy led by 39 points at the half and none of the starters played more than 25 minutes with the bench scoring 56 points!

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

PeterRamTime wrote:VCU and Davidson look like the best teams in the conference right now.

Looking at their resumes so far, we're pretty close to VCU though they might be a tick better. I'd argue our resume right now is better than Davidson's.

Resume's yes.
But I'm talking about who looks best. Davidson and VCU look the best according to my eyeballs.

In the surprise of the day, Dartmouth won its first game of season by snaring a decisive road win at LIU Brooklyn, 82-68. This same LIU team had some good wins over Northeastern and St. John's.

Joe's just wrapping up their egg-laying sesh at Illinois State. Rough season for the A-10.

Bill Coen and Northeastern up by 11 over Michigan State with 33 seconds to go! Murphy with good game.

Final 81-73 Northeastern over Michigan State!

And Michigan State was a 14 point favorite playing at home vs Northeastern. Was the return game of a home and home series. MSU won at NE last year. Big upset by Northeastern on the road.

The 19 year tournament streak will be in jeopardy this year, that's for sure. This team, while decimated by injuries currently, lacks the mental and physical toughness that most Izzo teams have. Already short on size (which isn't normal either), they're very soft on the glass and lack the gritty man to man defense Izzo preaches. Not unusual when you lose 4 starters, with one being the NPOY but they've been painful to watch this season. Thankfully, the 3 best players have been freshmen, which bodes well for the future but might be a tough task for this season.

Also, Murphy looked great tonight. Lots of inside-out and had very good range as well. They were certainly the better team tonight.

Wow very impressive Northeastern!!

This guy's a bum!
Could never play in the mighty A-10!

Rokas Gustys, who leads the nation in rebounding with an average of 13 per game, grabbed 18 boards for Hofstra (7-5) to go with 11 points for his fourth double-double of the season.

rodfromcranston wrote:This guy's a bum!
Could never play in the mighty A-10!

Rokas Gustys, who leads the nation in rebounding with an average of 13 per game, grabbed 18 boards for Hofstra (7-5) to go with 11 points for his fourth double-double of the season.

He could never play here. He's too big.

We didn't have an open scholarship when he committed. If he committed earlier he'd be here now.

It was because Hurley chose to give Jordan Hare his 30th
chance.
It came down to Gustys or Hare.
The rest is history.

I'd enjoy having both Gustys and Murphy right now