12/13 | UMass Lowell | 7:00PM (YurView/ESPN+)

[spookydog]

University of Rhode Island vs University of Massachusetts Lowell
Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
7:00PM

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

Previews:
UMass Lowell Fan Forum


The University of Rhode Island look to build on this weekend’s win over Army with a home tilt against UMass Lowell. The River Hawks come into this game with a blistering 11-1 record with wins at Brown & at UMass Amherst. Two of their wins are against non-D1 teams (both 50+ blowouts), but 7 of their 9 wins have been by double-digits. There only loss on the season came at Rutgers where they lost by just 8 points.

Junior Max Brooks was picked as a preseason all-conference team, but has struggled to stay out of foul trouble this season. If he does stay out of foul trouble, he could be tough to defend downlow as he is shooting an impressive 66% from the floor. He is also a very solid defender with almost 2 blocks per game. Fifth year senior Everette Hammond is leading the River Hawks in scoring with 13 a game. This teams shares the ball well with 6 players averaging over 8 points per game. Those numbers are a bit inflated given they surpassed 100 in their 2 non-D1 games. La Salle transfer Ayinde Hikim runs the offense, averaging over 4 assists but game but is turnover prone, averaging almost 4 a game. Rhody can play off him on defense, daring him to shoot from 3 as he is just 1 for 12 on the season. The two main deep threats are the aforementioned Hammond & Yuri Covington, who are both shooting it at 45%. On the plus side, the River Hawks are averaging more turnovers per game than Rhody (15.7/15.1). These turnovers could lead to some breakouts.

As for Rhody, Jalen Carey was a much-needed spark off the bench after missing the last 5 games due to injury. He went for 12/6/5 & the best number in my mind was just the 1 turnover. Hopefully he can become a reliable scorer which will take some of the burden off Ish & Bray. Ish once again had a great game, notching his first career double-double. I am looking forward to this game Tuesday night because I think it is going to be a close one & is a good test before starting conference play at the end of the month. The River Hawks are going to give Vermont & Bryant a run for their money in winning the America East

I think UMass Lowell will be favored by a point or two given how well they are playing. Will Rhody have enough to pull out the victory? I hope so, but I think they falter late. My prediction is UMass Lowell 69 – URI 67. Go Rhody!!

Opponent
Record:
11-1, 0-0 in the America East
15-16, 7-11 in the America East (Last Season)

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 57 (286)
RPI: 86 (250)
KenPom: 118 (196)
BPI: 95 (245)
Sagarin: 119 (198)
Barttovik: 123 (213)

Leaders:
Points – Everette Hammond 13.0 (Sr., G)
Rebounds – Abdoul Karim Coulibaly 8.6 (Jr., F)
Assists – Ayinde Hikim 4.3 (Jr., G) (3.8 TO per game)

Historical
Series: 2-0
H: 1-0, A: 1-0, N: 0-0
Most Recent Matchup: 11/16/14 72-56 W at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 2 - URI
Match-up Predictor: 32.9% Chance of URI Winning

[section(105)]

Team Rankings now says; their #206 ranked, #13 A-10 URI has 38% chance to win over their #105 ranked UML.

[ramster]

Cox recruited Coulibaly when he was 2019 Class

Averaging 12.5 ppg and 8.6 rpg

http://keaneyblue.com/search.php?keywor ... d%5B0%5D=8

[Jersey77]

Thanks Spooky, good summary.

UML has plenty of experience and well balanced with guard play and length.
They have also outrebounded their opponents by over double-digits.

I expect a very tough game and will be pleasantly surprised if we pull out a victory.

[ATPTourFan]

Never thought I'd see the day where the Rams are underdogs at home vs Lowell.

[Blue Man]

Never thought I'd see the day where the Rams are underdogs at home vs Lowell.

Can't say I ever thought I'd see the day where UMass Lowell was a top 100 team...11-1!?

Wild times.

[SGreenwell]

In case anyone else was wondering - One-time Ram Gregory Hammond is now playing D-II ball for Southern Arkansas, after two years as a bench player for UMass-Lowell. He's averaging about 20 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG on 47 percent shooting, 26.1 from deep. So, he's seemingly found the appropriate team and level.

[bigappleram]

They are very good. Prob the best team we will have played besides K State, PC. About even with Tulane. Will we be home dogs?

[Rhodymob05]

Best UMASS-Lowell team ever?

[RhodyKyle]

They are very good. Prob the best team we will have played besides K State, PC. About even with Tulane. Will we be home dogs?

I bet the line opens with UML as 1 or 2 point favorites

[PeterRamTime]

Beating them would actually be really impressive right now.

Watched them play UMass and the thing that jumped our at me was their skill and athleticism was at an A-10 level. Top half A-10.

UMass could not just overpower them, I mean if they had Fernandes I think they win, bit it still would have been very close.

We got to be strong with the ball because their PG is a pest. Had several steals that led to fast break points. He's also like 5'10 and can windmill dunk.

Then they have Coulibaly whose probably better than any of our bigs right now

They have two wings who can shoot it at an elite level

Every time UMass made a run they made a clutch play to keep them at arms length.

We have our work cut out for us.

[Jdrums#3]

I agree, PRT.

From what I saw of their game against UMass, they looked like a tough, mature team that plays well on the road and able to withstand runs.

Tough game and a good measuring stick game for Rhody. We will pretty much need all of our metrics on O (in shooting %, free throw %, rebounding margin, turnovers, shot distribution, scoring distribution, etc ) to be better than average and our D to be solid. In short, we need an excellent game on both sides of the ball to grab a win, I think.

[spookydog]

As a reminder - Shaidzon will be open from 4-7 to accommodate Rhody fans.

[KevanBoyles]

I think Archie uses being an underdog at home as a major motivating factor. UMass-Lowell SOS = 267, URI SOS = 184. They shoot and rebound really well but turn the ball over more than URI. We'll see if we have turned a corner.

[KeaneyBluBallz]

As a reminder - Shaidzon will be open from 4-7 to accommodate Rhody fans.

stay thirsty

[Rhody72]

I think Archie uses being an underdog at home as a major motivating factor. UMass-Lowell SOS = 267, URI SOS = 184. They shoot and rebound really well but turn the ball over more than URI. We'll see if we have turned a corner.

I hope it motivates URI but it depresses me.

[reef]

They are very good. Prob the best team we will have played besides K State, PC. About even with Tulane. Will we be home dogs?

I think so maybe a 2 point dog ??

[Obadiah]

This will be a tough one as UML is on a nine game win streak, but if URI does pull it out, it will have a big positive effect on the season.

UML can shoot the 3 pointer very well and have 4 guys who hit at a 40%+ clip . Against UMass they were hot at 11-2, 50%+, not so great in their lone loss of season to Rutgers where they went 4-18. They are prone to TO's - against UMass had 20, 19 in Brown game and 16 vs. Rutgers. Those three were the toughest opponents on schedule. Their nine other opponents were less than stellar and have a combined W-L well below .500

[ramster]

Excellent Opponent but tickets can be had for $4.
Our slow start is not good for putting live bodies in seats unfortunately

746FB83F-4A08-4335-AF74-4DB359438D4A.png

[Rhody15]

Excellent Opponent but tickets can be had for $4.
Our slow start is not good for putting live bodies in seats unfortunately

746FB83F-4A08-4335-AF74-4DB359438D4A.png

UMass Lowell is by no means an “excellent opponent” to the casual fan.

They aren’t bringing anyone in off their name alone.

[McRam]

Are we making progress? Are we really the 198 th best team in the country? (Sagarin).

Lowell is something like in the 125 spot for Sagarin.If we are making progress, we should be able to win. If not ,

[LoveThoseRams]

In case anyone else was wondering - One-time Ram Gregory Hammond is now playing D-II ball for Southern Arkansas, after two years as a bench player for UMass-Lowell. He's averaging about 20 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG on 47 percent shooting, 26.1 from deep. So, he's seemingly found the appropriate team and level.

I just looked him up a few days ago and was reminiscing about how his family came on KB and trash talked about how we would never get another player from Louisiana!

[ramster]

In case anyone else was wondering - One-time Ram Gregory Hammond is now playing D-II ball for Southern Arkansas, after two years as a bench player for UMass-Lowell. He's averaging about 20 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG on 47 percent shooting, 26.1 from deep. So, he's seemingly found the appropriate team and level.

You can make a long (not Meki Long) list of players who David Cox recruited who did not make at URI and also when they left URI. The diamonds are few.
That is why his teams declined steadily from Year 1 to Year 4 (and the legacy continues into this season)

He was not a good recruiter. The same David Cox and Staff Coached all 4 years, calling Timeouts after made baskets, allowing players to play as they wished, not having good plays drawn up at end of game, etc. The bottom line is that the overall incoming talent decreased steadily year 1 to year 4. Not the players fault that David Cox offered them the opportunity to play at URI.

Did Dan Hurley improve as a Coach during his years at URI? Sure, but the biggest contributor to Hurley's success at URI was his recruiting expertise. Saw Dan and Luke Murray at AAU Games/Tournaments where they would be the first to arrive and the last to leave. They are doing the something now UCONN - recruiting top notch players.

EC Mathews, Hassan Martin, Kuran Iverson, Stanford Robinson, Jeff Dowtin, Cyril Langevine were all Top 150 Ranked Players with good work ethics. Their talent was why we performed so well under Hurley. The talent just has not been there the last 5 years here unfortunately. But that will change.

[ramster]

Excellent Opponent but tickets can be had for $4.
Our slow start is not good for putting live bodies in seats unfortunately

746FB83F-4A08-4335-AF74-4DB359438D4A.png

UMass Lowell is by no means an “excellent opponent” to the casual fan.

They aren’t bringing anyone in off their name alone.

At NET 57, UMASS-Lowell comes in easily the highest ranked OOC Home Opponent

If URI Basketball Fans want to see a solid opponent, then this Tuesday night is our highest NET Opponent of the season - and that includes all of the A10 Teams that will visit in A10 play. Those are the facts as hard as they are to digest this year.

57-UMass Lowell
103-PC
114-Quinnipiac
168-Milwaukee
212-Brown
217-Texas State
301-Army
357-Stony Brook

[steveystuds06]

In case anyone else was wondering - One-time Ram Gregory Hammond is now playing D-II ball for Southern Arkansas, after two years as a bench player for UMass-Lowell. He's averaging about 20 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG on 47 percent shooting, 26.1 from deep. So, he's seemingly found the appropriate team and level.

You can make a long (not Meki Long) list of players who David Cox recruited who did not make at URI and also when they left URI. The diamonds are few.
That is why his teams declined steadily from Year 1 to Year 4 (and the legacy continues into this season)

He was not a good recruiter. The same David Cox and Staff Coached all 4 years, calling Timeouts after made baskets, allowing players to play as they wished, not having good plays drawn up at end of game, etc. The bottom line is that the overall incoming talent decreased steadily year 1 to year 4. Not the players fault that David Cox offered them the opportunity to play at URI.

Did Dan Hurley improve as a Coach during his years at URI? Sure, but the biggest contributor to Hurley's success at URI was his recruiting expertise. Saw Dan and Luke Murray at AAU Games/Tournaments where they would be the first to arrive and the last to leave. They are doing the something now UCONN - recruiting top notch players.

EC Mathews, Hassan Martin, Kuran Iverson, Stanford Robinson, Jeff Dowtin, Cyril Langevine were all Top 150 Ranked Players with good work ethics. Their talent was why we performed so well under Hurley. The talent just has not been there the last 5 years here unfortunately. But that will change.

I actually think Dowtin and Cyril were outside the top 150. If I remember correctly Cyril was 3 star ranked in the 300s and Jeff was around 250ish. Just another example why these rankings don’t really mean much.

[ramster]

In case anyone else was wondering - One-time Ram Gregory Hammond is now playing D-II ball for Southern Arkansas, after two years as a bench player for UMass-Lowell. He's averaging about 20 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG on 47 percent shooting, 26.1 from deep. So, he's seemingly found the appropriate team and level.

You can make a long (not Meki Long) list of players who David Cox recruited who did not make at URI and also when they left URI. The diamonds are few.
That is why his teams declined steadily from Year 1 to Year 4 (and the legacy continues into this season)

He was not a good recruiter. The same David Cox and Staff Coached all 4 years, calling Timeouts after made baskets, allowing players to play as they wished, not having good plays drawn up at end of game, etc. The bottom line is that the overall incoming talent decreased steadily year 1 to year 4. Not the players fault that David Cox offered them the opportunity to play at URI.

Did Dan Hurley improve as a Coach during his years at URI? Sure, but the biggest contributor to Hurley's success at URI was his recruiting expertise. Saw Dan and Luke Murray at AAU Games/Tournaments where they would be the first to arrive and the last to leave. They are doing the something now UCONN - recruiting top notch players.

EC Mathews, Hassan Martin, Kuran Iverson, Stanford Robinson, Jeff Dowtin, Cyril Langevine were all Top 150 Ranked Players with good work ethics. Their talent was why we performed so well under Hurley. The talent just has not been there the last 5 years here unfortunately. But that will change.

I actually think Dowtin and Cyril were outside the top 150. If I remember correctly Cyril was 3 star ranked in the 300s and Jeff was around 250ish. Just another example why these rankings don’t really mean much.

Technically you could say they were outside the Top 150, but talent wise, work ethic wise and basketball IQ wise they turned out to be Top 100 talents. I could say Jermaine Harris and Elijah Wood were Top 100 ESPN Players, but they were not and neither one is playing D1 Basketball today.
That is where Hurley excelled. He got players who were Top 100, even if the "experts" might say they were not. Hurley saw them play many times in person before he brought them on board.

In addition, Dowtin at St John's College HS, Langevine at The Patrick School and Russell at Imhotep Charter all had their teams in the Top 20 of the USA Today Top 25. They played top competition both in HS and in AAU. Hurley had plenty of opportunities to see them play against strong competition.

[KeaneyBluBallz]

UML by 7

[Rhody72]

I refuse to believe that UML could ever beat URI.

[KeaneyBluBallz]

I refuse to believe that UML could ever beat URI.

how quickly we forget Q and Brown.

[Rhody15]

I refuse to believe that UML could ever beat URI.

how quickly we forget Q and Brown.

Plus Texas St.

With that being said, Rhody by 5.

[rhodysurf]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

[RhowdyRam02]

I refuse to believe that UML could ever beat URI.

Well this is a nice way to set up a hot take one way or the other

[Rhody15]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

Eh, not for me.

Beating UMass Lowell at home as a 2 point underdog doesn’t really move the needle.

I’m sure others would feel the same way.

[Jersey77]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

It would definitely be a confidence builder for the team.
But not sure that would change the entire perspective.
This season will still be an uphill struggle.

[SGreenwell]

I think going forward, with the fact that the player market is so much more open, everyone should probably try their best to push past their bias when it comes to the "name" of a school and just look at the pedigree of their roster. Of UMass-Lowell's top five in MPG, only one (Allin Blunt) is a non-transfer. The other four, two transferred down and two transferred up. The biggest factor in transferring is probably always going to be MPG, and that's one thing that a "lower" conference school can always offer a player.

[RI_Bred]

Looking forward to attending my first game of the year, in someone else's really good seats...!

[Rhody15]

I think going forward, with the fact that the player market is so much more open, everyone should probably try their best to push past their bias when it comes to the "name" of a school and just look at the pedigree of their roster. Of UMass-Lowell's top five in MPG, only one (Allin Blunt) is a non-transfer. The other four, two transferred down and two transferred up. The biggest factor in transferring is probably always going to be MPG, and that's one thing that a "lower" conference school can always offer a player.

Let's do that then.

Those transfers are from

South Carolina Upstate
Pitt/St Bonnies
La Salle
Merrimack

Not exactly the cream of the crop.

Beating a school with players from those schools, along with those originally from UMass Lowell, won't change the seasons outlook for me.

[steveystuds06]

This would be Archie's best win as our head coach. I think it'll go down to the wire, and if we limit our turnovers, we can win. If you make mistakes against this team, they will take advantage.

[bigappleram]

Good write up on the game by Chris Disano

[RI_Bred]

^Thanks for the link BAR, good article.

[RamStock]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

What changes?? Are we at such a low point that a home win over Umass Lowell is considered our big achievement. This is still a bad team with below average talent. The only thing of value going forward is to find who can play and who will be moving on

[Blue Man]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

What changes?? Are we at such a low point that a home win over Umass Lowell is considered our big achievement. This is still a bad team with below average talent. The only thing of value going forward is to find who can play and who will be moving on

Um - we're rebuilding and UMass Lowell is 11-1 with a win over (what looks like) one of the best teams in our conference.

So yeah, beating a fringe top 100 team would be a pretty good win considering the realities of this rebuild and the confidence it would give to our players approaching conference play.

[KingstonLane]

So who’s calling radio on varsity? Disano and stone? You’d think those guys should be the TV crew

If that’s the case my only thought is varsity network is paying us and it includes them doing the games

[ramster]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

What changes?? Are we at such a low point that a home win over Umass Lowell is considered our big achievement. This is still a bad team with below average talent. The only thing of value going forward is to find who can play and who will be moving on

Um - we're rebuilding and UMass Lowell is 11-1 with a win over (what looks like) one of the best teams in our conference.

So yeah, beating a fringe top 100 team would be a pretty good win considering the realities of this rebuild and the confidence it would give to our players approaching conference play.

They are #57 Ranked, we are #287 Ranked using NEt which is the NCAA Ranking System.

Tonight would be a good win. Highest Ranked Team to visit the Ryan Center this year.


Rankings: UMASS-Lowell (URI):
NCAA NET: 57 (286)
RPI: 86 (250)
KenPom: 118 (196)
BPI: 95 (245)
Sagarin: 119 (198)
Barttovik: 123 (213)

[rhodysurf]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

What changes?? Are we at such a low point that a home win over Umass Lowell is considered our big achievement. This is still a bad team with below average talent. The only thing of value going forward is to find who can play and who will be moving on

Given that this team has struggled heavily to even stay in the game with PC or Kansas State if they can pull out a win tonight its a big deal to me. This is a year of rooting for small incremental progress. Winning this game would be solid progress forwards.

Also add on the fact the UMass lost to UML already and I have been reading soooooo many UMASS fans going on and on about being second best team in the conference and how URI is shit (true but still) it would be beautiful to beat a team that UMASS lost to lol

[McRam]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

Eh, not for me.

Beating UMass Lowell at home as a 2 point underdog doesn’t really move the needle.

I’m sure others would feel the same way.

. What needle are we talking about. If we are talking about national recognition etc- of course not ,but , if we are talking about weather the team is making” Progress”:a win here means the answer is YES

[Rhody15]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

Eh, not for me.

Beating UMass Lowell at home as a 2 point underdog doesn’t really move the needle.

I’m sure others would feel the same way.

. What needle are we talking about. If we are talking about national recognition etc- of course not ,but , if we are talking about weather the team is making” Progress”:a win here means the answer is YES

Yes, absolutely progress.

Original post was "entire perspective on things change" and I don't see that as the case at all.

[RamStock]

Rhody wins this and entire perspective on things change.

What changes?? Are we at such a low point that a home win over Umass Lowell is considered our big achievement. This is still a bad team with below average talent. The only thing of value going forward is to find who can play and who will be moving on

Um - we're rebuilding and UMass Lowell is 11-1 with a win over (what looks like) one of the best teams in our conference.

So yeah, beating a fringe top 100 team would be a pretty good win considering the realities of this rebuild and the confidence it would give to our players approaching conference play.

To say the whole entire perspective would change is ridiculous in my opinion. How good do you really think Umass Lowell is and we know that the A-10 is a one bid league. Would it be nice to get a win-sure, but I think we can get carried away with things. This would still be a home win over Umass Lowell.

[rhodysurf]

What changes?? Are we at such a low point that a home win over Umass Lowell is considered our big achievement. This is still a bad team with below average talent. The only thing of value going forward is to find who can play and who will be moving on

Um - we're rebuilding and UMass Lowell is 11-1 with a win over (what looks like) one of the best teams in our conference.

So yeah, beating a fringe top 100 team would be a pretty good win considering the realities of this rebuild and the confidence it would give to our players approaching conference play.

To say the whole entire perspective would change is ridiculous in my opinion. How good do you really think Umass Lowell is and we know that the A-10 is a one bid league. Would it be nice to get a win-sure, but I think we can get carried away with things. This would still be a home win over Umass Lowell.

Sounds like you still havent accepted the current state of this team then.

[PeterRamTime]

What changes?? Are we at such a low point that a home win over Umass Lowell is considered our big achievement. This is still a bad team with below average talent. The only thing of value going forward is to find who can play and who will be moving on

Um - we're rebuilding and UMass Lowell is 11-1 with a win over (what looks like) one of the best teams in our conference.

So yeah, beating a fringe top 100 team would be a pretty good win considering the realities of this rebuild and the confidence it would give to our players approaching conference play.

To say the whole entire perspective would change is ridiculous in my opinion. How good do you really think Umass Lowell is and we know that the A-10 is a one bid league. Would it be nice to get a win-sure, but I think we can get carried away with things. This would still be a home win over Umass Lowell.

It's simple

Lowell is practically as good as anyone we will play in the Atlantic 10 this year

Beating them would be a huge step from barely beating the dregs of division 1 and signal we have the potential we can compete with the top half of the A-10 THIS YEAR.