Good question, my thoughts of why this happened, not necessarily in order of importance
1. The team was never as bad as many people thought. Valparaiso, Houston, PC, both Dayton Games - were all very close and easily could have gone either way. Not like we were getting blown out or even close to being blown out.
2. Lack of confidence - losing games, even against good opponents on the road, can cause players and coaches to pressure themselves and play not to lose and with less confidence.
3. EC coming off ACL surgery and recovery takes time. Many doubted him but he came on strong and was the deserved MVP of the A10 Championship
4. Martin injury in PC game - it affected his performance vs PC and maybe could have been the difference in a victory there. He missed games and even upon return he was not 100%. By end of season, like EC, he was playing his best of the year and his career. Martin with 17 points and 18 rebounds in the huge 10 point victory over VCU, then 17 rebounds versus Davidson on Senior Night were simply dominating performances
5. Kuran Iverson finished Top 3 in A10 in rebounding. He teamed with Martin to form the best big man combination in the A10. His rebounding, shot blocking, offensive moves, height and enthusiasm were all so important to this team
6. Jarvis Garrett missed 8 A10 Games from Game 4 January 15 vs UMASS. He returned a month later February 15 for the Fordham game. He was not 100% before the UMASS game and we don't know for sure how long before that he was sick and his play was affected. Nor do we know how long after return he was not at 100%. Good news is he is now back. His 12-12 FTs vs VCU were remarkable and clutch. His being able to come in a provide a spark, skill and experience since his return has been important. He has allowed DH to put 2 and even 3 PGs in the game at the same time with teams like Dayton and VCU want to full court pressure.
7. Stanford Robinson received more playing time with the injury to Garrett and to some extent the Martin injury. He tended to fill the roll of 6th man, ie TJ Buchanan. His shooting, defense, energy, enthusiasm, passing, steals and confidence were keys to our run. His 21 point performance with 5-8 FGs, 3-3 on three pointers, 4 rebounds @ George Mason in a very tight 3 point victory, immediately following the Fordham debacle, was huge.
If we had lost that GM Game to make it 3 straight losses then question of "How did we do it?" would not exist right now
8. Jeff Dowtin. URI has gone 14-3 since Jeff became a starter. 14-3!!! He had 55 assists and 17 TOs for a A10 Leading 3.2 Assist to TO ratio. Some thought Robinson should be the starter when Garrett went out. Hurley rolled the dice and went with the Freshman at PG. Some games, all of Dowtin's assists went to Martin. I have not seen any player get Martin so involved offensively in his 4 years at URI than Dowtin has. He leads the team, tells players where to go, always directing the floor much like a player/coach. Martin became an offensive force this year but he is dependent upon others getting him the ball in optimum position to score directly or take a dribble to get in position. Early in the season DH said on some calls that Jeff needed to improve defensively. 2nd half of season Jeff slowed down Scoochie Smith, Jaylen Adams, JeQuan Lewis, Joseph Chartouney, Jaren Sina and Jack Gibbs.
During the crucial VCU game and a crucial point in that game, Jeff saw an opportunity, drove in for a layup and was fouled. He displayed little emotion, had both of his hands waving in a downward motion by his waist and was basically telling himself and his teammates to relax, stay cool and composed. This from a freshman. Most players would be pounding their chest and expressing lots of emotion. His teammates feed off of Jeff's coolness and confidence.
9. Jared Terrell defense really picked up in the A10 Tournament. He teamed with EC to create two of the best wing players in the league. Both had and EC can shoot 3's, shoot FTs well, rebound, drive the lane and lead by example. Great that they are back next year.
10. Cyril Langevine was a real spark on the team for a Freshman. He dominated some games with his offensive rebounding skills. He is a relentless workhorse down low and make Martin, Iverson or both leaving a game due to Fouls, injury or just a rest not an issue. He proved to be a more than adequate back up big man, first big off the bench and a likely big man starter next season. A leader by example, similar to Dowtin, and just a freshman
11. Dan Hurley was never as bad as most thought, especially after the Fordham loss. He pulled his team together. He exuded confidence in himself and in his team that they could do this. He maintained control on the sideline all year, almost no Technical Fouls and most importantly he maintained himself during all of the many MUST wins that were required that past month. He made a key decision to go with Jeff Dowtin as the PG when JG went out. He knew and told us prior to the season that Dowtin and Langevine were showing the best in practices. While some doubted his statement on Dowtin and doubted the recruiting class, it certainly rang true as the season progressed. He instilled excellent defense skills in his players and developed them into a league leading 3PG% and 2PFG% defensive team. URI finished 3rd nationally in 3FG% Defense, 29th in FG% Defense and 4th in Blocked Shots per Game.
Dan made an adjustment mid season to reduce the amount of 3 point shots being taken and to drive the ball more to the basket. Even in the A10 Tournament game vs VCU the camera picked him up saying "Drive the Ball". Terrell, EC, Robinson and Dowtin all drive to the basket more for high percentage shots.
The team became much better at driving the lane and dishing back out for open 3's. Team was unselfish and often made the extra pass - not worried about who scored the points.
Dan inserted Dowtin and Garrett together often down the stretch. He also played Robinson with them essentially having 3 PGs together. Teams were unsuccessful against us with the Full Court press when they needed the ball back. Dan managed the substitutions and who was on the floor at the right time well during the Conference Play.
12. Nikola Akele, Andre Berry and Christian Thompson all contributed during the run. If any of them did not contribute in key spots as they did we may not be here today. All players maintained a team attitude and conducted themselves professionally. Mike Layssard watched, listened and was always attentive, always supportive. The entire team and coaches stayed enthusiastic and never gave up.
13. Antonio Reynolds Dean. The impact on this team of having a former URI Player who was part of the 1998-1999 team that last went to the NCAA Tournament might have been bigger than we think. For young players like these guys, it's nice to have a former player as their coach. The performance of Martin, Iverson and Langevine has been above what most expected going into this season, and especially over the past 2 weeks. How much of that is due to ARD? We may never know but my guess is he made a very nice impact.
14. Just as confidence can suffer with close losses, confidence grows on teams as they win. As the winning continued the confidence to hit the 3's grew, driving the lane confidence grew, rebounding and shot blocking confidence grew. This team is on a roll now and their confidence is growing as they go. They are peaking at the perfect time.
15. Scheduling. This could be questioned and has been BUT you could argue that the scheduling made this team tough. If we had gone with 1 or 2 losses in OOC we may not have seen some of the weaknesses that we needed to work on and address. The losses made this team tougher, made them look inside themselves. The road games at PC, Valpo, Houston made this team tough in tough environments. I wouldn't change anything with the schedule - now
16. The Cincinnati win. Was huge. Showed the team and the basketball world that this team can play with anyone. And we did it without our starting PG for 3/4ths of the game. The Duke game was good for us too. Anytime you can play a program like Duke and play them to 10 points it's good. Cincinnati was the only Top 25 victory for the A10. URI Players and Coaches now believe they can play with any team in the nation. Tough schedule made a tough team.
17. Fans got more on board as the winning streak continued. Nice crown at the Davidson game and Senior Night and the huge OT win. Proud of the fans who made the trek to Pittsburgh and cheered this team on.