William D. Mullins Memorial Center, Amherst, MA
Saturday, January 15, 2022
4:30PM
Media
TV: USA
Online: USA
Radio: 101.5 FM (B101) or Tune In Radio App
Previews:
UMass Fan Forum
After picking up their first conference win of the season, the Rams head north to Amherst to take on UMass. The Minutemen are led by Matt McCall who is in his 5th season at the helm. I thought he was going to be an up & coming coach in the A10, but he has struggled in his time at UMass and I would have to believe he is on the hot seat in Amherst. They are already struggling in conference play as well as having lost to Yale by 20 & Northeastern by 6. His one good move is having ex-Rhody star Tyson Wheeler on his coaching staff. An addition by subtraction was when UMass bought out the contract of former assistant coach Tony Bergeron. His services were no longer needed after Tre Mitchell transferred to Texas. No reason to have that awful person on your staff anymore. Noah Fernandes leads the team in both scoring & assists (16.2 & 5.5 respectively). He has been very consistent all season, scoring in double figures in all but 1 game. UMass features 2 Rhode Island natives in TJ Weeks Jr & Preston Santos. When Weeks gets going, he can be tough to stop. Santos has missed much of the season & I believe he won’t be playing this weekend. When on defense, Rhody will need to keep an eye on guard Rich Kelly, who is deadly from long range. 56% of his points scored this season are from behind the arc & is shooting over 51%. As a team the Minuteman are shooing over 40%. Conversely, when UMass is on defense…well, they don’t really play defense. They are giving up 78 per game (compared to URI who gives up just under 63). I am guessing the spread will be URI favored by about 2 points. Rhody will be looking for revenge after being swept by UMass last season & I think it happens. Final score in this one, URI 79 – UMass 71. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
7-8, 0-3 in the A-10
8-7, 6-4 in the A-10
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 171 (100)
RPI: 178 (80)
KenPom: 147 (78)
BPI: 162 (84)
Sagarin: 155 (92)
Leaders:
Points – Noah Fernandes 16.2 (Jr., G)
Rebounds – Trent Buttrick 5.5 (Sr., F)
Assists – Noah Fernandes 5.2 (Jr., G) (2.2 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 67-91
H: 41-32, A: 26-54, N: 0-5
Most Recent Matchup: 2/6/21 75-63 L at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 2 – UMass
Match-up Predictor: 58.4% Chance of URI Winning