Week #5- Games of Interest

[Obadiah]

In the face of two unimpressive home wins, St. Bonaventure drops out of the Top 25 Coaches poll. The Bonnies get other votes in both polls, but no other A-10 team gets a whiff. Loyola Chicago gets other votes in both polls.

The A-10 OOC record showed a slight uptick and now stands at 69-53, .566, nonetheless pretty bad compared to previous years.

This past week's URI performance, a win on the road at Harvard marked by another blowing of a big lead, and the bad performance against Providence did much to shape further URI's identity - a team prone to turnovers, not competitive on the boards against better teams despite having some size, and showing generally poor perimeter shooting. URI guard play leaves much to be desired, with not one of them being a consistent take charge guy. At this point, URI appears to be a middle of the pack A-10 team at best.

The combined won-loss record of URI OOC opponents now stands at 61-46, .570, a deterioration from previous week.

With two road games and a 1-1 split, the key URI metrics moved up slightly with the exception of the Pomeroy rating. The first issue by the NCAA on NET ratings shows URI at #83, fourth highest in the A-10.

NET - 83 (112 Last Season)
BPI - 76, up 7
Pomeroy - 83, down 3.
Sagarin - 84, up 5.

No action in the A-10 on Monday,

In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Babson at Harvard., 7 PM. On ESPN+. Babson is a NCAA DIII school.

NAIA Voorhees at Georgia State, 7 PM. On ESPN+. Voorhees is a historically black college located in Denmark, SC.

[ace]

I’ve been looking forward to the Bona-UConn game on Saturday since the schedule was announced. The likelihood of having three combined starters out definitely dampens that a bit.

[Obadiah]

Talk about a shocker #20 Florida is trailing a winless Texas Southern team by 20 points with only a few minutes left in the game in Gainsville!!! Texas Southern has played all seven games on road against tough teams. They won't play a home game until Jan. 8

[ace]

Harvard is currently losing to something called Babson.

[Jersey77]

I’ve been looking forward to the Bona-UConn game on Saturday since the schedule was announced. The likelihood of having three combined starters out definitely dampens that a bit.

I second that Ace, was even planning on going.
Not only 3 starters but they are all major impact players.
Only difference is, I am rooting for the Bonnies.

[rambone 78]

NAIA Voorhees?

Is Jason coming back......again?

[ramster]

Talk about a shocker #20 Florida is trailing a winless Texas Southern team by 20 points with only a few minutes left in the game in Gainsville!!! Texas Southern has played all seven games on road against tough teams. They won't play a home game until Jan. 8

Right Obadiah.
Texas Southern wins by 15
Florida was favored at home by 24 so a 39 point spread

Brison Gresham has 8 points and a big 13 rebounds for TSU. He was from New Orleans went to Umass and then Houston Cougars.

[Obadiah]

Tuesday action in the A-10 begins with the Sacred Heart at URI match, 6 PM. On ESPN+.

Also, UMass at Northeastern, 7 PM.

Fairleigh Dickinson at La Salle, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

Navy at George Mason, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

Belmont at Saint Louis, 8 PM.

Duquesne at De Paul, 8:30 PM. On FS1.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Vermont at Providence, 6:30 PM. On FS1.

Brown at Merrimack, 7 PM.

Florida Gulf Coast at Florida A&M, 7 PM.,

Charleston at Tulane, 8 PM. On ESPN+.

Loyola Marymount at Tulsa, 9 PM. On ESPNU.

Also, NAIA Roosevelt at Loyola Chicago, 8 PM. On ESPN3.


Due to Covid protocols within the Nevada program, their game at UT Arlington has been cancelled as was last Saturday's game at North Texas..

[ace]

I’ve been looking forward to the Bona-UConn game on Saturday since the schedule was announced. The likelihood of having three combined starters out definitely dampens that a bit.

I second that Ace, was even planning on going.
Not only 3 starters but they are all major impact players.
Only difference is, I am rooting for the Bonnies.

Lofton is the only one that has a chance to play. Tyrese and Sanogo are out. UConn has depth but they are young. I like Hawkins and Akok’s chances better against Bona than West Virginia, I think, but neither situation is ideal. Schmidt is a great coach with a veteran team. I don’t think you can ever count them out.

[rhodysurf]

No wayyyy... UMass got in a fight during their game. i for one am shocked

[Jersey77]

I’ve been looking forward to the Bona-UConn game on Saturday since the schedule was announced. The likelihood of having three combined starters out definitely dampens that a bit.

I second that Ace, was even planning on going.
Not only 3 starters but they are all major impact players.
Only difference is, I am rooting for the Bonnies.

Lofton is the only one that has a chance to play. Tyrese and Sanogo are out. UConn has depth but they are young. I like Hawkins and Akok’s chances better against Bona than West Virginia, I think, but neither situation is ideal. Schmidt is a great coach with a veteran team. I don’t think you can ever count them out.

I would be shocked if Lofton plays, he has a high ankle sprain, and will probably miss several weeks, maybe longer.

Hurley has done a great job of building quality depth on this team, they should be okay.
I just feel that UConn can absorb the injury losses better then the Bonnies.
UConn will probably win this game and should be favored.

[bigappleram]

UConn can struggle to score and Tyrese and Sanogo are two of their more reliable scorers in the half court. They have loads of talent but a lot of it is young and untested. Could be a rock fight type game which prob favors Bonnies given their experience. But UConn’s defense is definitely going to bother them without their best ball handler. I’m sure Dan will ratchet it up at that end.

[Obadiah]

bigappleram, a question off subject, is there a bar in Manhattan that URI fans go to when there is a game a Ram game on TV?

[reef]

St Louis loses to Belmont
UMass loses @ Northeastern

[Obadiah]

Brown takes an impressive road win at Merrimack, 76-56. The Bruins led from their opening successful three and finished game with a 10-23 on three pointers. The rout was so complete that 17 members on the roster saw some action.

[bigappleram]

bigappleram, a question off subject, is there a bar in Manhattan that URI fans go to when there is a game a Ram game on TV?

You mean besides my couch? If one exists I have never heard of
it. There are def a lot of alums in the area but I’ve never heard of any official or unofficial Ram bars. If you are here when there is a game on I would just reco go somewhere that isn’t crowded and have them throw on the game.

[Obadiah]

Thanks for the quick response, BAR. Maybe you can be the lead guy in establishing such a URI gathering spot. It's always worthwhile to be friends with a bar owner/bartender!!

[Obadiah]

Besides the Brown win, also notable in last night's games was Charleston's convincing road win over Tulane, 86-72 and Florida Gulf Coast road win over Florida A&M, 69-55. The downer was Tulsa losing on its home court to Loyola Marymount, 60-55.

[Obadiah]

Wednesday action in the A-10:

Coppin State at George Washington, 6:30 PM. On ESPN+.

Loyola (MD) at St. Bonaventure, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

Penn at Saint Joseph's, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

Jacksonville State at VCU, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

Dayton at SMU, 8 PM. On ESPN+.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

UMass Lowell at Boston U., 7 PM. On ESPN+.

New Hampshire at Bryant, 7:30 PM.

[SmartyBarrett]

Besides the Brown win, also notable in last night's games was Charleston's convincing road win over Tulane, 86-72 and Florida Gulf Coast road win over Florida A&M, 69-55. The downer was Tulsa losing on its home court to Loyola Marymount, 60-55.

I think when the dust settles, the Tulsa loss is gonna look worse than the FGCU loss. Not what I was expecting at the time.

[Jersey77]

Loyola/Chicago on a little 4 game win streak including 2 victories over P6 schools.
Their current NET ranking is #23.
Crazy, some posters here didn't think they are a good addition to the A10.

[Rhody15]

Loyola/Chicago on a little 4 game win streak including 2 victories over P6 schools.
Their current NET ranking is #23.
Crazy, some posters here didn't think they are a good addition to the A10.

Some posters here find a negative in every aspect of the program no matter what it is.

Choosing to be miserable for the sake of being miserable.

[SmartyBarrett]

[reef]

Must not be a high ankle sprain those are at least 2-4 weeks

[NYGFan_Section208]

Didn't see it, but sounds like a spectacular collapse by Indiana...up 23 in the second half and losing the game. If you're going to collapse, do it big, not ho hum...

[steveystuds06]

Loyola/Chicago on a little 4 game win streak including 2 victories over P6 schools.
Their current NET ranking is #23.
Crazy, some posters here didn't think they are a good addition to the A10.

Yup they are an awesome get.

[reef]

Didn't see it, but sounds like a spectacular collapse by Indiana...up 23 in the second half and losing the game. If you're going to collapse, do it big, not ho hum...

I saw it Wiscy was -4.5 and covered at the end won by 5 the only time they led by 5 just sick

[Jersey77]

Must not be a high ankle sprain those are at least 2-4 weeks

After his tests it was reported as a high ankle sprain and he would be out multiple weeks.
Don't know what has changed or he is an extremely fast healer.

[Obadiah]

Last night the A-10 went 4-1. The four wins came all on home courts and the one loss was Dayton at SMU. The Dayton loss showed the impact on the NET. Dayton entered the game at #94 and SMU at #127, with end of game, Dayton now ranks at #105 and SMU at #114.

[Obadiah]

Only one game in the A-10 on Thursday:

Long Island U. at Fordham, 7 PM. On ESPN+.


There are no games involving URI OOC opponents.

Other games: Texas vs, Seton Hall at Prudential Center, 6:30 PM. Game in the Big East - Big 12 Battle.

Interesting, NEC Merrimack, who Brown routed recently, travels across the country to play #5 Gonzaga, I assume this is a "buy" game and a case of the Jesuits helping the Augustinians.

[reef]

Tough loss for Dsyton against a decent team on its home court

[NYGFan_Section208]

Only one game in the A-10 on Thursday:

Long Island U. at Fordham, 7 PM. On ESPN+.


There are no games involving URI OOC opponents.

Other games: Texas vs, Seton Hall at Prudential Center, 6:30 PM. Game in the Big East - Big 12 Battle.

Interesting, NEC Merrimack, who Brown routed recently, travels across the country to play #5 Gonzaga, I assume this is a "buy" game and a case of the Jesuits helping the Augustinians.

Merrimack using the matchup with the 'zags as a tune-up for IU on Sunday.

[Jersey77]

#23 Seton Hall beats #7 Texas, 64-60. Their 2nd top 10 victory this season.
We will have our hands full at SH next season.

[Jersey77]

Incredible.
Rutgers beats #1 Purdue 70-68.
Ron Harper Jr. makes a half court shot at the buzzer, amazing.
Harper made their last 2 baskets and ended up with 30 pts/10 rebs.
Maybe this takes a little heat off of Pike from some of the fans.
They also did it without their senior leader Geo Baker, who was out.

[ramster]

#23 Seton Hall beats #7 Texas, 64-60. Their 2nd top 10 victory this season.
We will have our hands full at SH next season.

Keep in mind Seton Hall was favored by 1.5 points

[ramster]

Incredible.
Rutgers beats #1 Purdue 70-68.
Ron Harper Jr. makes a half court shot at the buzzer, amazing.
Harper made their last 2 baskets and ended up with 30 pts/10 rebs.
Maybe this takes a little heat off of Pike from some of the fans.
They also did it without their senior leader Geo Baker, who was out.

Purdue was favored by 13.5 points. Game was at Rutgers. Wins are tough to get on the road.

[Jersey77]

#23 Seton Hall beats #7 Texas, 64-60. Their 2nd top 10 victory this season.
We will have our hands full at SH next season.

Keep in mind Seton Hall was favored by 1.5 points

Yes, Willard's team looks pretty good.
Lots of tough competition near the top of the BE.

[reef]

Incredible.
Rutgers beats #1 Purdue 70-68.
Ron Harper Jr. makes a half court shot at the buzzer, amazing.
Harper made their last 2 baskets and ended up with 30 pts/10 rebs.
Maybe this takes a little heat off of Pike from some of the fans.
They also did it without their senior leader Geo Baker, who was out.

Purdue was favored by 13.5 points. Game was at Rutgers. Wins are tough to get on the road.

That was Purdue’s first ever game as the top ranked team in the country and they had that happen to them wow

[ramster]

Incredible.
Rutgers beats #1 Purdue 70-68.
Ron Harper Jr. makes a half court shot at the buzzer, amazing.
Harper made their last 2 baskets and ended up with 30 pts/10 rebs.
Maybe this takes a little heat off of Pike from some of the fans.
They also did it without their senior leader Geo Baker, who was out.

Purdue was favored by 13.5 points. Game was at Rutgers. Wins are tough to get on the road.

That was Purdue’s first ever game as the top ranked team in the country and they had that happen to them wow

Purdue was impacted by the flu as well

Purdue’s bench played more than half the minutes 99 of 180) bench got 19 of 39 rebounds and 31 of 68 points

Rutgers bench played 39 of 180 minutes. Bench got zero of 27 rebounds and 5 of 70 points.

Great game to watch right to the end.

[Obadiah]

No games in the A-10 on Friday.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Vermont at Brown, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

Milwaukee at Colorado, 9:30 PM.

Also, Loyola Chicago at Vanderbilt, 8 PM. On ESPN+/SECN+.

[Obadiah]

Recapping Friday night's games of interest. Brown fell to Vermont, 70-65. This was a close game throughout, but Brown never led until two free throws gave the Bruins a one point lead with 50 ticks left on clock. From there a series of Bruin miscues handed the win to UVM.

Loyola Chicago got a rice road win over Vanderbilt, 69-58. The Ramblers drained 17 3-pointers in the tilt.

Milwaukee put up a good g fight and actually led with 3 minutes left, but the Buffs poured it on in those remaining minutes to take a 65-54 win.

[Obadiah]

Lots of games in the A-10 on Saturday:

Temple at Saint Joseph's, 1 PM. On ESPN+.

New Hampshire at Duquesne, 1 PM. On ESPN+.

Penn at La Salle, 2 PM. On ESPN+.

St. Bonaventure vs. #15 UConn, 4 PM. On ESPN2. Game is part of the Never Forget Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

UMass at North Texas, 4:30 PM. Game in the Hall of Fame Classic.

Boston College at Saint Louis, 5 PM.

Toledo at Richmond, 6 PM. On ESPN+.

VCU at Old Dominion, 8 PM.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Central Connecticut at Providence, 2 PM. On FS1.

Southern Illinois at Tulsa, 2 PM. On ESPN+.

Boston U. at Dartmouth, 6:30 PM. On ESPN+.

Bryant at Stony Brook, 6:30 PM. On ESPN3.

Florida Gulf Coast at Robert Morris, 7 PM. On ESPN+

[ace]

Sanogo is still out for UConn. They desperately need his 15/6 back in the lineup as soon as possible. Lofton and Tyrese are fighting hard to get into this one.

A great schedule of games today!

[Jersey77]

Thanks Obadiah

Go Bonnies over UConn in Newark, should be a great game.

Nice line-up of other A10 games including BC at SLU, Temple at St. Joe's, and Toledo at Richmond.

VCU at Old Dominion with our friend Mekhi Long starting for ODU.

UMass at North Texas has our former commit Abou Ousmane starting for NTU.

[SmartyBarrett]

No Lofton.

[Jersey77]

No Lofton.

Not surprised.
Too bad, they will need every advantage they can get in order to beat UConn.
PG Lofton their leading scorer 17.4 and assists 6/avg.is a big missing piece.
They don't have the same depth as UConn.

[Jersey77]

Not a game listed, but Creighton beats #24 BYU 83-71 (neutral site)
The BE looks to be wide open this season.

[ramster]

Last game vs Penn Sophomore Jordan Hall 6'7" played all 40 minutes for St Joseph's in a win. 8-11 3Ps, 4 rebounds, 7 assists for 33 points. Today he is the best player on the court vs Temple. Temple favored by 1.5 but St Joseph's, led by Hall is beating Temple handily by 15 at the half.

[Jersey77]

Last game vs Penn Sophomore Jordan Hall 6'7" played all 40 minutes for St Joseph's in a win. 8-11 3Ps, 4 rebounds, 7 assists for 33 points. Today he is the best player on the court vs Temple. Temple favored by 1.5 but St Joseph's, led by Hall is beating Temple handily by 15 at the half.

Yes, Jordan Hall is one of the most talented players in the A10.
Actually in this game Taylor Funk from St. Joe's may be the 2nd best player on the court.

[reef]

Cuse loses to GTown in a great game to watch