12/7 | Brown | 7:00PM (YurView/ESPN+)

[spookydog]

University of Rhode Island vs Brown University
Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
7:00PM

Media
TV: YurView
Online: ESPN +
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network

Previews:
Brown Fan Forum

After a disappointing defensive performance against Providence, Rhody looks to rebound against another instate foe in Brown University. This will be the first time these 2 teams have played each other in just shy of 3 years. Last season the game was cancelled & the season before that the Ivy league did not have basketball due to Covid. The last time these teams played back in early January of 2020, it was an embarrassing loss that had many fans starting to sour on David Cox. An awful defensive performance with lackluster energy that saw URI go down as many as 17 in that game even though Rhody had possibly 3 future NBA players in Dowtin, Tyrese & maybe Toppin. That just shouldn’t happen.

As for this year’s Brown team, coach Mike Martin is in his tenth season at the helm. His smartest offseason move was the hiring of assistant coach Tyson Wheeler after his departure from UMass. On the court, the Bears are led by last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Kino Lilly Jr, who is averaging 16/3/2 in 34 minutes per game. The Bears have 2 additional players averaging over 30 minutes per game, Paxson Wojcik who is leading the team in assists with 3 per game & Nana Owusu-Anane who is leading the team in rebounds with 7.7 per game. Brown is kind of an enigma in today’s college basketball world as I believe they only have one transfer in Paxson Wojcik, who came from Loyola before the 2021-22 season. Brown in coming into this game on a nice little 4 game win streak with 3 of those games on the road including a double-digit win at Bryant.

Rhody got a much-needed offense lift from their bigs last game, with a combined 13 for 18 shooting from Samb, Bilau & Hutchinson. On the defensive end they will need to step up. Other than the aforementioned Owusu-Anane, Brown doesn’t have much size other than freshman Kalu Anya, so Rhody may be able to get by in a game like this. Come conference play, that will be a different story.

Even with Rhody’s struggles, I am guessing they will still be favored by a few points. If this game comes down to free throws, URI has a clear advantage. Brown has a few dreadful free throw shooters & they shoot only 55% as a team (URI shoots it at 72%). My prediction is URI 66 – Brown 61. Go Rhody!!

Opponent
Record:
5-4, 0-0 in the Ivy
13-16, 5-9 in the Ivy (Last Season)

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 212 (142)*
RPI: 282 (211)
KenPom: 232 (183)
BPI: 248 (247)
Sagarin: 208 (193)
Barttovik: 197 (201)
* Denotes last season

Leaders:
Points – Kino Lilly Jr. 16.1 (Soph., G)
Rebounds – Nana Owusu-Anane 7.7 (Soph., F)
Assists – Paxson Wohjcik 3.0 (Sr., G) (1.9 TO per game)

Historical
Series: 108-54
H: 66-14, A: 41-39, N: 1-1
Most Recent Matchup: 1/2/20 85-75 L at Brown
Most Recent Win Streak: 1 - Brown
Match-up Predictor: 64.5% Chance of URI Winning

[Blue Man]

This is the first time I can remember a write up that had free throws listed as our strength. Great preview Spook!

[ramster]

[ramster]

Brown's leading rebounder, Nana Owusu-Anane, missed the Bryant game and also sat out Sunday's win vs Hartford. May not play Wednesday night

[RI_Bred]

Once again great write up and thanks!

We really need this one.

[RF1]

If Brown wins, that makes the Bears the mythical RI state champion with with URI being last. The records of the four teams in head to head match-ups would be:

Brown 2-0
PC 1-0
Bryant 0-1
URI 0-2

[ramster]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

[section(105)]

FWIW Team Rankings says; their #204 ranked URI and 14th A-10 has 65% chance to beat their #228 ranked Brown

[Billyboy78]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

And Bassy has 5 of them. He has more than Bilau, Tchikou and Samb. Only Malik has more than Bassy. We need a rim protector. Hopefully Foumena has that as part of his game next year.

[RF1]

Hopefully, the Brown squad did not pick anything up from their game with Bryant on Friday night. Several Bryant players were unavailable for their game at Cincinnati yesterday. The Bulldogs next game versus Tulane is now being cancelled for health concerns.

[KeaneyBluBallz]

herpes in smithfield

[RF1]

herpes in smithfield

It appears serious. One Bryant player is in the intensive care unit of a Cincinnati hospital:

[Jdrums#3]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

Thanks for this, Ramster. Great info.

[Jdrums#3]

Rough news about that Bryant player in ICU. Hopefully he gets healthy soon.

[Rhodymob05]

Wojcik and Kino Jr are ones to watch out for. Did well vs Bryant. Kino controls the offense.

[Jdrums#3]

I would like to see a clean game here with a comfortable win of 7 or more. Would be a good bounce back from our performance and result of the game with the other Providence team.

By clean I mean: continued improvement on O; better play on D; 12 or less turnovers; continued good freebies %. Stuff like that for both half’s in one game.

I don’t think that is unreasonable for this home game. On the other hand, a rock fight may be more likely.

Really looking forward to this game and very curious to see how we bounce back.

[reef]

Brown has won 4 in a row I’m thinking this will be a close game

[theblueram]

We lose this game and I have serious doubts that we have the players on our team we need going forward.

[KeaneyBluBallz]

Brown by 2

[Jdrums#3]

Brown by 2

Oooph

[SmartyBarrett]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

Good call out, ramster. It's def. an issue. 16.3% of URI's shots get blocked. Only NC Central and Winthrop are worse in all of D1.

[PeteRI]

I was at our last Brown game in Providence. I was thrilled to sit right behind our bench in their teeny tiny gym. Then a bunch of Ivy League toffs proceeded to shoot like Steph Curry and bury our sad butts all over the East Side. A brutal day for public universities.

[PeterRamTime]

I was at our last Brown game in Providence. I was thrilled to sit right behind our bench in their teeny tiny gym. Then a bunch of Ivy League toffs proceeded to shoot like Steph Curry and bury our sad butts all over the East Side. A brutal day for public universities.

They literally made every shot

[KeaneyBluBallz]

Brown by 2

Oooph

yup

[ramster]

Bill Koch
@BillKoch25
4h
Martin said 'there's a chance' Dan Friday and Nana Owusu-Anane could play Wednesday. They'll both practice today.

[Rhody72]

Can we dress Sophie Phillips for this game?

[ramster]

Can we dress Sophie Phillips for this game?

Sophie will be playing at 11am so she will be already dressed.

[section(105)]

So, so, so, we can’t let this one slip away, right?

[rhodylaw]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

I have an unpopular opinion that Malik Martin is the biggest problem on this team offensively. It is even unpopular in my own mind because he tries so damn hard and seems like such a good team player and plays really hard D. His offensive game is just so mediocre though and it needs to be better from a 5th year senior. Hopefully he can turn it on when we get to conference time, he has show flashes of good offensive output the past few years but it was never consistent.

[Blue Man]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

I have an unpopular opinion that Malik Martin is the biggest problem on this team offensively. It is even unpopular in my own mind because he tries so damn hard and seems like such a good team player and plays really hard D. His offensive game is just so mediocre though and it needs to be better from a 5th year senior. Hopefully he can turn it on when we get to conference time, he has show flashes of good offensive output the past few years but it was never consistent.

I mean it's pretty obvious. It's a shame too, and I agree with the "unpopular in your own mind" part.

This is the problem with a rebuild - you have to rebuild the culture. To rebuild the culture you need to play the guys who are the leaders, the guys who are doing everything that you ask off the court.

Arch knows this year wasn't THE year. He needs to get young guys to adapt to college basketball and then to his pack line system in that order. But the pack line is going to be so important in the coming years that Arch is willing to sacrifice short term offense, and potentially wins, to keep a guy on the floor who can help his players learn the defensive system.

As you saw with PC - we scored 74 points against an older, bigger, Big East team. But we gave up 88. Defense is more important. This defensive system is complex. So getting players to adjust and get good at that system is very important and takes time.

[SGreenwell]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

I have an unpopular opinion that Malik Martin is the biggest problem on this team offensively. It is even unpopular in my own mind because he tries so damn hard and seems like such a good team player and plays really hard D. His offensive game is just so mediocre though and it needs to be better from a 5th year senior. Hopefully he can turn it on when we get to conference time, he has show flashes of good offensive output the past few years but it was never consistent.

I don't disagree with you, but I'm not sure what options you have for replacement at this point. Carey is hurt. Weston's rebounds per 40 minutes are slightly better (7.8 vs. 7.1), but he shoots worse, fouls more (4.1 vs. 2.7) and has less blocks and steals too. Hutchinson shoots better, but his rebound rate is half that of Martin's, on a team that struggles to get boards as is. Both Weston and Hutchinson's TO rates are higher than Martin's. If he's outplaying them in practice and earning the time, there isn't really a case for benching him for them right now.

[RhowdyRam02]

This season thru 6 games URI has 24 blocked shots. Our opponents have blocked more than double us with 53 blocks. Freeman and Martin have been blocked 27 times.

Last season thru 1st 6 games:
We blocked 48 shots
We had 16 shots blocked against us

Most blocked shots has been Freeman:
2-Quinnipiac
0-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
2-Kansas State
2-Tulane
4-Illinois State
1-Boston College
3-PC
14-Total


2nd Most Blocked shots has been Martin:
1-Quinnipiac
1-Texas State
0-Stony Brook DNP
3-Kansas State
4-Tulane
2-Illinois State
2-Boston College
0-PC
13-Total

I have an unpopular opinion that Malik Martin is the biggest problem on this team offensively. It is even unpopular in my own mind because he tries so damn hard and seems like such a good team player and plays really hard D. His offensive game is just so mediocre though and it needs to be better from a 5th year senior. Hopefully he can turn it on when we get to conference time, he has show flashes of good offensive output the past few years but it was never consistent.

The blocked shots for me isn't that big of an issue. While not great, he's a smaller player (actually height vs listed height) asked to play a bunch inside, he's going to get his shots blocked more than most. My biggest issue is he's third on the team in 3 point attempts and is only shooting them at 21.7%. That is an issue, whether him or the coaching. He needs to either have the green light taken away to shoot from 3 or he's going against what they're telling him to do within the offense. It's not like he was a good three point shooter last year (25.5%) and he's off to a bad start, he's just a poor 3 point shooter, so if he's one of the people taking the most attempts you're going to have a fight to have a good offense

[Billyboy78]

I want to see Archie do this tonight. LOL

[reef]

I want to see Archie do this tonight. LOL

Lol Arch doesn’t seem like the type

[Rhody72]

Can we dress Sophie Phillips for this game?

Sophie will be playing at 11am so she will be already dressed.

Sophie only played 20 minutes and shot 5 of 10 three pointers. Put her in the corner and make Brown guard her. Why can't MBB get a shooter like her?

[Jdrums#3]

It’s getting closer to game time! Winnable game. Let’s see a game of good O and Good D for both half’s , I hope.

Let’s gooooooooooo

[KeaneyBluBallz]

I want to see Archie do this tonight. LOL

Lol Arch doesn’t seem like the type

has any coach taken the mic since Jim Baron?

[Jdrums#3]

Same starting lineup as last game or a different one? Thoughts anyone?

[Jdrums#3]

No Carey per the pre-game show. Still hurt. Still no timetable on his return.

[Jersey77]

Same starting lineup as last game or a different one? Thoughts anyone?

Yes
Bray, Ish, Martin, Samb, Bilau

[adam914]

Happy to see Samb and Bilau starting together again. Curious to see more of how they do out there at the same time.

[Jdrums#3]

Good start! Nice!

Good start for Malik, too.

[reef]

We lead 13-4 under 12

Defense looks good , hope we can stretch this lead out

[Big Rhody Guy]

I wonder we don’t throw more passes to the post. I feel like our bigs get good position and can all hit good post moves(especially against brown) but we almost never throw it in.

[RI_Bred]

Holy shit we cannot hit from outside. Wow.

[reef]

17-15. 649

We are very sloppy

Brown starting to make shots now

[adam914]

All of our worst three point shooters sure do love to shoot a lot of three pointers!

[reef]

We lead 24-23. 225

Bray our best player by a mile has 10

[Jdrums#3]

Got sloppy and went cold for a stretch, but a solid half overall.

[rhodysurf]

We are bad. But I enjoy this much more than last year