1/30 | Dayton | 4:00PM (CBSSN)

[spookydog]

University of Rhode Island vs University of Dayton
UD Arena, Dayton, OH
Saturday, January 30, 2021
4:00PM

Media
TV: CBSSN
Online: CBSSN
Radio: 101.5 FM (B101) or Tune In Radio App

Previews:
Dayton’s Fan Forum
Another Dayton’s Fan Forum
Blackburn Review

My preview could have just been this...

But I guess I will write something a bit more in-depth. Coming off back to back double-digit wins, the Rams head to Dayton to take on the Flyers. I see a lot of similarities between these teams with their play being wildly inconsistent. Life without Obi has been quite the rollercoaster for the Flyers. Dayton is coming off a win against a ranked St Louis team (albeit the Billikens haven’t played in a month) as well as wins at Davidson & Duquesne. On the flipside, they lost to VCU by 23 & somehow lost to both Fordham & La Salle. Dayton does still have all-conference point guard Jalen Crutcher, who is averaging 19 & 4. And get this, he is shooting 45% from 3. I had no idea an all-conference point guard could do that. Because of injuries (stretch forward Chase Johnson being their biggest loss as well as Rodney Chatman), Dayton does not have a deep roster. Their starting guards (Crutcher & Michigan transfer Ibi Watson) average over 38 minutes per game. Against St Louis they both played the whole game. The Flyers do turn the ball over quite a bit (14.6 per game). Not at Rhody’s level (15.4 per game), but not many teams do. I would say let’s get out there & run against this team given their lack of depth, but I’m worried the more we run the sloppier URI will be with the ball. The Flyers do have a up & coming freshmen big man in Mustapha Amzil. From Helsinki, this 6’10” big will step back & shoot the three, so Mitchell will have to come out there & play him. Rhode Island is coming off their most complete game of the season since the Seton Hall game. Turnovers still were an issue, especially some of the unforced ones, but (with the exception of Betrand) they shot much better from the floor. A repeat performance should get this Rams team a win & they really want to get this win after getting embarrassed at home the last time these teams played each other. They also have lost 3 of the last 4 against the Flyers. My guess the spread will be Dayton -1.5. Rhody wins this one in OT 78-76. Wear a Mask & Go Rhody!

Opponent
Record:
9-4, 5-3 in the Atlantic 10
Last season: 29-2, 18-0 in the Atlantic 10

Rankings (URI):
RPI: 89 (103)
KenPom: 82 (65)
NCAA NET: 92 (72)
BPI: 87 (65)
Sagarin: 78 (76)

Leaders:
Points – Jalen Crutcher 18.9 (Sr., G)
Rebounds – Jordy Tshimanga 8.0 (Sr., G)
Assists – Jalen Crutcher 4.3 (Sr., G) (2.9 TO per game)

Historical
Series: 17-21
H: 9-7, A: 7-10, N: 1-4
Most Recent Matchup: 3/4/20 84-57 L at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 2 – Dayton
Match-up Predictor: 49.3% Chance of URI Winning

[Jersey77]

Tough game at Dayton, they lack depth but have talent and size and much like us are inconsistent.
They have struggled with injuries:
Chatman -Hand surgery 12/30 out 6- 8 weeks
Chase Johnson - left team for health reasons
Dwayne Cohill - ACL surgery, out for the year
They mostly rely on freshman off the bench as backups
Weaver a transfer from USC was a huge addition.
Amzil has done a good job filling in for Chase at PF
Watson and Crutcher are one of the best guard combos in the conference along with Weaver at the wing.
Jordy (6'11) and Amzil (6'10") causes matchup issues with their length and Jordy is a brute.
We will need some size in the backcourt to matchup with Watson and Weaver.
Not sure we can stop Crutcher, maybe the best guard in the conference
If we continue to have turnover issues and shooting woes, I don't see us winning this game.

[Rhody15]

Remember when Fatts was the consensus better player than Crutcher? Simpler times, simpler times.

[Rhodymob05]

Remember when Fatts was the consensus better player than Crutcher? Simpler times, simpler times.

Fatts at his best, I believe is better then Crutcher at his best, but inconsistency and discipline is Fatts issue. Theres quite a few URI highlights of Fatts on youtube now, and some of them are pretty incredible.

[PeterRamTime]

Hmm they average one turnover less than we do.

That sounds like a big stat to me. Our depth could wear them down at the end of the stretch.

Impossible to predict this one.

[Jersey77]

Remember when Fatts was the consensus better player than Crutcher? Simpler times, simpler times.

Fatts at his best, I believe is better then Crutcher at his best, but inconsistency and discipline is Fatts issue. Theres quite a few URI highlights of Fatts on youtube now, and some of them are pretty incredible.

Comparison on body of work this season
Crutcher: 19 pts, 52.5 %FG, 45% 3pt, 4.3 assists
Fatts: 15 pts, 33.5% FG, 25% 3pt, 4.2 assists

[spookydog]

Blackburn Review podcast with Stone Freeman

Spotify Link
(Can also be found on the Blackburn Review website front page)

[SmartyBarrett]

Remember when Fatts was the consensus better player than Crutcher? Simpler times, simpler times.

Certainly Crutcher hasn't looked as good without Toppin as he did with him. The SLU game was obviously an excellent performance for him, but his needed transformation into a volume shooter/scorer has had mixed results.

[bigappleram]

Crutcher is the key guy to stop and not sure who we will use on him that can bother him, he’s great from 3 and has an awesome floater. They can’t win if he doesn’t get 16-20 points on us. But he can also put up a highly efficient 25 and if so we are toast Bc they all flow off of him. They also are a very disciplined defensive team and will have hands in passing lanes so our TO issues if we don’t fix them will be exacerbated.

[neil]

Does Marquis have any eligibility left?

[Rhody72]

Is URI finally starting to gel? Is Dayton finally starting to gel? Both programs expect this to happen sooner or later. This is why I'm no more down on David Cox than Dayton fans are down on Anthony Grant. Dayton fans know they have a great coach in Grant because of his record while too many URI fans can't see the same in David Cox because he doesn't have such a record. Let's enjoy the next 2.x years of David Cox's teams.

[Rhody15]

Remember when Fatts was the consensus better player than Crutcher? Simpler times, simpler times.

Certainly Crutcher hasn't looked as good without Toppin as he did with him. The SLU game was obviously an excellent performance for him, but his needed transformation into a volume shooter/scorer has had mixed results.

Yes great players will always make others look better, but Crutcher is shooting 53% from the field and 45% from 3. Hard to argue with that.

You would think with Toppin gone that Crutcher's percentages would suffer, but that certainly is not the case. His percentages have increased being the number 1 option and the number one guy teams key in on. That's tough to do.

[Dowtinsavestheworld]

Who we think guards Crutcher? We miss the shut down defensive guard since Dowtin's departure. Ish is 6'2 and Crutcher is 6'1 and according to the BIO, Ish has 5 pounds on him.

What a big moment that would be for him but the problem is we are not going to play Fatts, Sheppard, and Ish at the same time. Sheppard matches up in height but loses 10 pounds on him. That will probably be the match up but boy would I love it to be Ish.

I hate to jump on the kid but the less minutes Harris plays and the more Walker and Mitchell play together is a recipe for success. I can't wait for this game.

[luke]

My two cents on Cruther versus Russell : IMO Crutcher is far superior to Fatts . Just look at the shooting numbers and turnover numbers alone. Crutcher
makes better decisions and doesn't force his passes . Crutcher finishes drives far better than Fatts . Crutcher is a much better shooter all around.
URI would be a better team with Crutcher . I still love Fatts and he is very important to the team , but Crutcher at his best is better than Fatts at his best
and is more often at his best than Fatts is. The only other Dayton player who is better than the Rhody roster has is Watson , but he and Shepard are close. Amzil is streaky for Dayton . The rest of the Flyers don't match up that well against URI . Their bench barley contributes point wise . Mitchell
should dominate big Jordy Tshimanga who is slow , but will Makhel do so ? The only other Flyer of concern is Weaver who is coming on recently . this
game could be a battle or a blowout either way depending on whether one is hot and one is not and there is no telling which one that might be .
Both teams have been terrible and great in back to back games . Both coaches must be holding their breaths when the game starts each night.

[SmartyBarrett]

RE: Crutcher. He can't defer for Dayton to be successful. I think he's learning that as the season goes on, but he has to shoot the ball often. When he hasn't, here's how that's gone for Dayton this season:

vs SMU, LOSS
Crutcher, 8 shot attempts

vs La Salle, LOSS
Crutcher, 10 shot attempts

vs Fordham, LOSS
Crutcher, 10 shot attempts

vs VCU, LOSS
Crutcher, 7 shot attempts

Their only win where Crutcher attempted fewer than 12 shots was Dayton's season opener, a narrow 66-63 win over Eastern Illinois in which Crutcher shot the ball 9 times. They're undefeated when he gets up 12+ attempts.

[PeterRamTime]

My two cents on Cruther versus Russell : IMO Crutcher is far superior to Fatts . Just look at the shooting numbers and turnover numbers alone. Crutcher
makes better decisions and doesn't force his passes . Crutcher finishes drives far better than Fatts . Crutcher is a much better shooter all around.
URI would be a better team with Crutcher . I still love Fatts and he is very important to the team , but Crutcher at his best is better than Fatts at his best
and is more often at his best than Fatts is. The only other Dayton player who is better than the Rhody roster has is Watson , but he and Shepard are close. Amzil is streaky for Dayton . The rest of the Flyers don't match up that well against URI . Their bench barley contributes point wise . Mitchell
should dominate big Jordy Tshimanga who is slow , but will Makhel do so ? The only other Flyer of concern is Weaver who is coming on recently . this
game could be a battle or a blowout either way depending on whether one is hot and one is not and there is no telling which one that might be .
Both teams have been terrible and great in back to back games . Both coaches must be holding their breaths when the game starts each night.

Mitchell is far superior to Jordy. He should draw a bunch of fouls on him. Walker is also better than their bigs. We have to attack them down low.

[reef]

I will guess Dayton 70-62

[RI_Bred]

Mitchell is far superior to Jordy. He should draw a bunch of fouls on him. Walker is also better than their bigs. We have to attack them down low.

Agree! Attack down low right from the start!

[theblueram]

Rhody 20 TO's-Lose, 13 TO's-Win.

[Rhodymob05]

Rhody 73
Flyers 64

[McRam]

Rhody 20 TO's-Lose, 13 TO's-Win.

YEP! It really is that simple!

[Rhody15]

How are they only -1 against us? That’s very very fishy.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Remember when Fatts was the consensus better player than Crutcher? Simpler times, simpler times.

Fatts at his best, I believe is better then Crutcher at his best, but inconsistency and discipline is Fatts issue. Theres quite a few URI highlights of Fatts on youtube now, and some of them are pretty incredible.

Comparison on body of work this season
Crutcher: 19 pts, 52.5 %FG, 45% 3pt, 4.3 assists
Fatts: 15 pts, 33.5% FG, 25% 3pt, 4.2 assists

I love Fatts...but it's not close....

[rhodylaw]

Remember when Fatts was the consensus better player than Crutcher? Simpler times, simpler times.

Fatts at his best, I believe is better then Crutcher at his best, but inconsistency and discipline is Fatts issue. Theres quite a few URI highlights of Fatts on youtube now, and some of them are pretty incredible.

You are absolutely correct, 5-7 games a year Fatts is unstoppable and is better than Crutcher ever will be. Problem is he will throw in another 5 games of pure awfulness and his average game is not as strong as Jalen’s. Crutcher is the more consistently good player. We need to hope that Fatts goes on a heater to end the season. Watching him the last 3 seasons, Fatts is usually best when he starts really attacking in the second half. Get the other guys going in the 1st half, defenses start to key in on those guys and it opens up space for Fatts to do his thing. When he starts pressing offensively from the jump the D locks down on him, clogs up his game and the results are usually bad. Basically we want the opposing coach at halftime keying his guys on stopping Jeremy, Makhel and whoever else is hot that day.

[KingstonLane]

How are they only -1 against us? That’s very very fishy.

I really think we’re just two of the most inconsistent teams in the conference.

We beat VCU by 15, they just lost to them by 23

One of those games where I legit would not be surprised by any outcome. I know people say that in every game thread but they’re usually just being emotional. They could beat us by 15, we could do the same to them, or it could be tight.

[PeteRI]

Here's an amazing series of statistics from Bill Koch about our offensive efficiency. In the last game our 19 turnovers led to 30 points for LaSalle. Our other possessions were remarkably productive — 1.49 points on average. The national leaders in that category, Gonzaga and Iowa, check in at 1.25 points per possession.

[Running Ram]

Fatts was tearing it up until his injury. I'm not making excuses, but in my opinion he and Crutcher are on the same level, numbers don't define value.

[Running Ram]

I know its the wrong thread, but I actually think Hyland is the best guard in the A10, or at least if I were drafting a team with A10 players from scratch, I roll the dice choosing between Fatts and Hyland and wouldn't be disappointed at all if I got Crutcher. Those are the three best guards in the conference, in whatever order you put them.

[Jersey77]

I know its the wrong thread, but I actually think Hyland is the best guard in the A10, or at least if I were drafting a team with A10 players from scratch, I roll the dice choosing between Fatts and Hyland and wouldn't be disappointed at all if I got Crutcher. Those are the three best guards in the conference, in whatever order you put them.

Other teams may not agree, Goodwin was a POY A10 candidate:
Jordan Goodwin - 16.2 pts, 48% FG, leads nation in rebounding by a guard with 11 per game.
Kellan Grady - 17.4 pts, 47% FG, 5 reb.
Kyle Lofton - 15 pts, 45%FG, 5.3 assists
Blake Francis - 16.6 pts, 41% FG
James Bishop - 20 pts, 44% FG, 5.8 assists

You can make argument for all, depending on who you are fan of
Actually, Fatts stats are probably the worst of all mentioned including Crutcher and Hyland.
Fatts may bring many of the intangibles, but so may the others.
One thing for certain the A10 has many excellent guards

[Shinze88]

How are they only -1 against us? That’s very very fishy.

I really think we’re just two of the most inconsistent teams in the conference.

We beat VCU by 15, they just lost to them by 23

One of those games where I legit would not be surprised by any outcome. I know people say that in every game thread but they’re usually just being emotional. They could beat us by 15, we could do the same to them, or it could be tight.

I agree that any result would not surprise me, but that line is just begging for Dayton $$. I've seen a few Dayton games this year and while they obviously aren't last year's version there is still enough there to beat a very inconsistent RI team, especially at home. We still turn the ball over way to much and continue to make the same mistakes game after game so I dont have a good feeling we can steal a game in one of the toughest places to play in the league. I see Dayton winning 74-62. Hope I'm wrong

[PeterRamTime]

Avery Johnson just said Fatts is 6'1 on a good day lolol

[eli#10]

How bout some defense Walker? Then he shoots a 17 footer--not his game at all. Got to get him the ball down low.
Our interior defense AWOL. Cannot give up lay ups.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Anybody else getting a weird picture? The picture doesn’t reach the top or bottom of the screen.

[Blue Man]

Things I like: 3/4 press. Jeremy sheppard. Ish off the bench early.

Things I don’t like: not running plays for Jeremy sheppard. Harris touching the ball.

[PeterRamTime]

We are looking very poised out there!

[adam914]

Really impressed with Sheppard the last few games. Would be huge if he can keep up this level of production.

[Rhodygirl2]

Anybody else getting a weird picture? The picture doesn’t reach the top or bottom of the screen.

Mine looks like a worn out VCR tape. Beyond pixelating. Had to go to the Contour app. So frustrating.

[NJRhodyFan]

Did anyone hear the announcer early in the half say that URI leads the country in FT attempts per game? I did not know that.

[Rhody15]

Has there been a smoother player in recent years than Sheppard?

EC before his injury comes to mind, but I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head.

[RI_Bred]

Picture fine here, YouTube tv

[section(105)]

Has there been a smoother player in recent years than Sheppard?

EC before his injury comes to mind, but I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head.

......Mathew Butler......

[Rhody15]

There will be no Jalen Carey slander allowed after that block at the rim.

My oh my.

[Blue Man]

Things I like: everything in the last 6 minutes.

[URIFIJI]

That was a bullshit call on Jermaine - he is playing good right now BONUS

[RI_Bred]

What's up with Fatts?

[eli#10]

Nice mid range jump shot. Don't see enough of those.

[Urifan91]

Rhody Defense looking good!!

[URIFIJI]

Has there been a smoother player in recent years than Sheppard?

EC before his injury comes to mind, but I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head.

DAWAN ROBINSONH

[adam914]

Who is this team!?!?

[KingstonLane]

Fatts injury aside, a lot to like today (so far)