11/6 | Central Connecticut | 7:00PM (ESPN+)

[spookydog]

University of Rhode Island vs Central Connecticut State University
Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
Monday, November 6, 2023
7:00PM

Media
TV: N/A
Online: ESPN +
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network

Previews
Central Connecticut Fan Forum


The 2023-24 season finally tips off on Monday night as the Central Connecticut Blue Devils travel 90 minutes east to Kingston, RI to take on the University of Rhode Island Rams. On the sidelines, coach Patrick Sellers, who played for the Blue Devils in the late 80s/early 90s, enters his third season & has struggled so far with winning only 28% of their team's games. There has been some turnover on the CCSU roster as their leading rebounder (8.4) Andre Snoddy transferred to Stony Brook. They will need someone to step up on the glass because of all their returning players, they have no one had over 3.5 rebounds per game. They also lost their leading assist leader (3.3) to graduation, Nigel Scantlebury. They did pickup grad transfer Allan Jeanne-Rose from Fairfield who went for 10 & 4 last season. They also picked up senior Jordan Jones from DII Coker University. Providence native Jayden Brown closed the season strong last season by scoring in double digits in 4 of their final 5 games. Look for him to step-up & have a solid season. They are an experienced team with 9 of their players being upperclassmen.

For the Rams, they look to put last season’s debacle in the distant past with basically a whole new roster. As I touched upon in the Assumption preview, they have only 4 returning players (Bilau {who is still hurt}, Weston, Stewart, & walk on Jimmy Ball) from last season, which accounted for less than 13% of the team's scoring. They reloaded with High Point transfer Jaden House, Bradley transfer Zek Montgomery, Quinnipiac transfer Luis Kortright, a few other transfers & an incoming freshmen class. Both Freshmen Jeremy Foumena & David Fuchs have a chance for a solid coming out party against an undersized Central Connecticut team. The Rams scored 66 of their 96 points in the paint against Assumption the other night. I think the Rams have a chance to score more than half of their points downlow again.

Last year the Rams opened the season by playing a small Connecticut school (Quinnipiac) at home & lost. Hopefully this outcome doesn’t happen again. The only repeat from last year’s opener is I would like to see Luis Kortright be the game’s leading scorer. Unfortunately, last year he did it for Quinnipiac. The Rams struggled from deep in last year’s opener shooting just 2-17 & the last time CCSU came to Kington in 2008, URI shot 2-15 from deep including Baron’s 2-12. Let’s hope they snapped out of that rut this year.

The Rams have never lost to these Blue Devils & I think we keep that streak alive again Monday night. I believe we will have a few double-digit scorers with evenly distributed scoring. Oh yeah, don’t forget to bet URI first to ten. Ha. My prediction, URI 73 – Central Connecticut 62. Go Rhody!!


Opponent
Record:
0-0, 0-0 in the NEC
10-22, 7-9 in the NEC (Last Season)

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 341 (263)*
RPI: 343 (281)
KenPom: 316 (193)
BPI: 330 (248)*
Sagarin: 342 (229)*
Barttovik: 311 (183)*
*Denotes Last Season Rankings

Leaders:
Points – Kellen Amos 14.1 (Sr., G)*
Rebounds – Abdul Momoh 3.5 (Jr., F)*
Assists – Jay Rodgers 2.3 (Sr., G) (1.4 TO per game)*
*Denotes Last Season Rankings

Historical
Series: 2-0
H: 2-0, A: 0-0, N: 0-0
Most Recent Matchup: 12/13/08 78-69 W at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 2 - URI
Match-up Predictor: 75.7% Chance of URI Winning

[Jersey77]

Thanks again Spooky for doing these previews, your effort and hard work is much appreciated.

Not much to add, excellent job as usual, and yes I agree with your prediction.

[spookydog]

One additional note - Shaidzon will be open from 4-7 Monday night before the game. They are opening up special to accommodate Rhody fans, so get your pregaming on there.

[section(105)]

Looking for another step up against an up in competition. Building on what we saw against Assumption. Is this the game where Weston finds his place in the rotation, he needs that, No?

[KeaneyBluBallz]

Rams by 11

[Jersey77]

Looking for another step up against an up in competition. Building on what we saw against Assumption. Is this the game where Weston finds his place in the rotation, he needs that, No?

Yes, they will be much better competition than Assumption.
CCSU is picked to finish 2nd in the NEC.
Still, we should out talent them and definitely have the size advantage.

Like you, I am hoping to see Weston break out starting Monday.

[NYGFan_Section208]

One additional note - Shaidzon will be open from 4-7 Monday night before the game. They are opening up special to accommodate Rhody fans, so get your pregaming on there.

The Shaidz-folk seem to be a cool group. I like the Sea & Sand and Little Ocean options, plus, on the weekends, they have live music (couple Dead cover bands recently) I can hear from my house

[SGreenwell]

Looking for another step up against an up in competition. Building on what we saw against Assumption. Is this the game where Weston finds his place in the rotation, he needs that, No?

As of right now, it looks like he and Dubsky are competing for the backup minutes at the 3. He was better than the latter in the exhibition, but only slightly so. Since House is 6'4" and we might have more depth at guard, it also wouldn't surprise me if URI plays Kortright, Estevez and House together at times too. He averaged 17.5 MPG last year, and it wouldn't surprise me if he ended right around there or slightly below for this year too. (I would like to be wrong, though!)

[KevanBoyles]

Looking for another step up against an up in competition. Building on what we saw against Assumption. Is this the game where Weston finds his place in the rotation, he needs that, No?

As of right now, it looks like he and Dubsky are competing for the backup minutes at the 3. He was better than the latter in the exhibition, but only slightly so. Since House is 6'4" and we might have more depth at guard, it also wouldn't surprise me if URI plays Kortright, Estevez and House together at times too. He averaged 17.5 MPG last year, and it wouldn't surprise me if he ended right around there or slightly below for this year too. (I would like to be wrong, though!)

I thought it was interesting that Archie's first sub against Assumption was Ways and then Kortwright and House played the 2 and 3. I think we may see a lot of that depending on the matchups. Archie loves his prototypical point guards.

[PeterRamTime]

CCSU has been awful for a while

I think Rhody pulls away late and wins by 21

78-57

[RhowdyRam02]

KenPom gives us an 83% chance of winning and thinks the final is 73-62

[spookydog]

KenPom gives us an 83% chance of winning and thinks the final is 73-62

I picked that exact score without even looking at his prediction. I just need them to win by more than 8.5

[Jdrums#3]

Have to play to the NET while balancing playing time and O/D goals. Therefore, I would like to see a 15-20 point winning margin for us at the final buzzer.

[bigappleram]

If you believe in Rhody there will be some value I would think in early season OOC given the year we are coming off.
-9 seems light for this game. This team, unlike last year, should be able to score in bunches and have some spurt ability. Last year we had zero of that so getting separation was extremely difficult....against anyone.

[Obadiah]

CCSU was selected in the NEC preseason poll to finish second just behind the top pick, Sacred Heart U.

[TruePoint]

KenPom gives us an 83% chance of winning and thinks the final is 73-62

Because of the way the model works (so much of it is based on prior year), if we’re expecting to be better than people think based on personnel then presumably we should outperform the models pretty significantly early on until they catch up to this year’s performance. If, as is typically the case, Vegas more or less follows KenPom and other similar models, there should be significant value in Rhody early - again, if you believe this team is better than people think.

[RhowdyRam02]

Draftkings, which I guess is what MA uses for online gambling has URI as an 8.5 point favorite with the over/under at 135.5. So pretty much right on the nose for what KenPom says. No odds in RI that I can see, I'm assuming because there's probably some rule prohibiting gambling on in state schools

[RhodyKyle]

Draftkings, which I guess is what MA uses for online gambling has URI as an 8.5 point favorite with the over/under at 135.5. So pretty much right on the nose for what KenPom says. No odds in RI that I can see, I'm assuming because there's probably some rule prohibiting gambling on in state schools

You're correct - no betting on in-state colleges. You'll need to either visit MA or sail the seven seas to bet on URI.

[ramster]

Juicy!!!! As Brian Forster would say. Bet the house, the boat, the 401K and the wife on it.

[reef]

If you believe in Rhody there will be some value I would think in early season OOC given the year we are coming off.
-9 seems light for this game. This team, unlike last year, should be able to score in bunches and have some spurt ability. Last year we had zero of that so getting separation was extremely difficult....against anyone.

I agree get on them early in the OOC

[PeterRamTime]

Guys Rhody is moving up in the world

After all these years they finally released a press conference on their YouTube channel.



Huge round of applause to the media people at URI. It only took them 18 years, but it's a nice step.

Need to clean up a few things (of course) the camera is showing a mirrored image, get a better angle, how about PUT THE CAMERA IN FRONT OF ARCHIE and take it off YouTube for kids so fans can comment on it.

Baby steps...

[theblueram]

Well this team is certainly night and day vs last year. That exhibition last year was DREADFUL. At least the guys look real talented and can finish under the rim. The big question is going to be team play. Can they get up to speed quick with knowing their team mates and gel. That may take some time. I expect a win here never the less.

[ramster]

Well this team is certainly night and day vs last year. That exhibition last year was DREADFUL. At least the guys look real talented and can finish under the rim. The big question is going to be team play. Can they get up to speed quick with knowing their team mates and gel. That may take some time. I expect a win here never the less.

We didn't play an Exhibition Game last year, only the intrasquad scrimmage.

[theblueram]

Well this team is certainly night and day vs last year. That exhibition last year was DREADFUL. At least the guys look real talented and can finish under the rim. The big question is going to be team play. Can they get up to speed quick with knowing their team mates and gel. That may take some time. I expect a win here never the less.

We didn't play an Exhibition Game last year, only the intrasquad scrimmage.

You can call it whatever you want. We played an intersquad D1 scrimmage and looked like poop.

[ramster]

Well this team is certainly night and day vs last year. That exhibition last year was DREADFUL. At least the guys look real talented and can finish under the rim. The big question is going to be team play. Can they get up to speed quick with knowing their team mates and gel. That may take some time. I expect a win here never the less.

We didn't play an Exhibition Game last year, only the intrasquad scrimmage.

You can call it whatever you want. We played an intersquad D1 scrimmage and looked like poop.

Yep. And it's worse when you are playing against yourself.

[reef]

Guys Rhody is moving up in the world

After all these years they finally released a press conference on their YouTube channel.



Huge round of applause to the media people at URI. It only took them 18 years, but it's a nice step.

Need to clean up a few things (of course) the camera is showing a mirrored image, get a better angle, how about PUT THE CAMERA IN FRONT OF ARCHIE and take it off YouTube for kids so fans can comment on it.

Baby steps...

20 minutes of Arch ! Yes indeed !

[Jdrums#3]

Game 1, the beginning of the post-game handshake line portal recruiting season. The portal version of speed dating.

Let the dating games begin!

[theblueram]

Game 1, the beginning of the post-game handshake line portal recruiting season. The portal version of speed dating.

Let the dating games begin!

Hah! I was just talking with someone today and said don't be surprised if #33 from Assumption who was nailing 3ptr's is on our team next year. LOL.

[reef]

Guys Rhody is moving up in the world

After all these years they finally released a press conference on their YouTube channel.



Huge round of applause to the media people at URI. It only took them 18 years, but it's a nice step.

Need to clean up a few things (of course) the camera is showing a mirrored image, get a better angle, how about PUT THE CAMERA IN FRONT OF ARCHIE and take it off YouTube for kids so fans can comment on it.

Baby steps...

Really good interviews Arch and then Luis with Zek also answered questions for 10 minutes

[hrstrat57]

Game 1, the beginning of the post-game handshake line portal recruiting season. The portal version of speed dating.

Let the dating games begin!

Hah! I was just talking with someone today and said don't be surprised if #33 from Assumption who was nailing 3ptr's is on our team next year. LOL.

Good player, solid game def D1 talent

Re social media RhodyMBB is really stepping up their game.

[rhodyrudder]

CCSU might be the worst team in D-1.
Their NET was 341 last year.
If we don’t beat these bums by 30…

[Rhodymob05]

Monday games are brutal.

[Jersey77]

CCSU might be the worst team in D-1.
Their NET was 341 last year.
If we don’t beat these bums by 30…

They were horrible last season but should be much improved and more experienced in 23-24.
Not the worst because they are picked 2nd in the NEC.

Yeah, we should still beat them by double digits and hopefully clear the bench.

[jcru]

My prediction was 20-11 but only 9-9 in the A-10.

Clearly, I thought URI was going to very well in the non conference slate. This is square numero uno.

[jcru]

From the Assumption thread:

No real surprises here...

That starting five would have eaten last year's starting five for breakfast, and picked it's teeth with the bones.

[ramster]

CCSU might be the worst team in D-1.
Their NET was 341 last year.
If we don’t beat these bums by 30…

They were horrible last season but should be much improved and more experienced in 23-24.
Not the worst because they are picked 2nd in the NEC.

Yeah, we should still beat them by double digits and hopefully clear the bench.

NEC was the 32nd ranked conference by NET - dead last

Only FDU at 19-16 had an overall record above .500

All 9 teams had NET over 300 with FDU being best at 301

Central Connecticut State lost their opening game a year ago Monday Nov 7, 2022 at UMASS by 27 points

[Jersey77]

CCSU might be the worst team in D-1.
Their NET was 341 last year.
If we don’t beat these bums by 30…

They were horrible last season but should be much improved and more experienced in 23-24.
Not the worst because they are picked 2nd in the NEC.

Yeah, we should still beat them by double digits and hopefully clear the bench.

NEC was the 32nd ranked conference by NET - dead last

Only FDU at 19-16 had an overall record above .500

All 9 teams had NET over 300 with FDU being best at 301

Central Connecticut State lost their opening game a year ago Monday Nov 7, 2022 at UMASS by 27 points

IMG_0637.png

The NEC is bad, but FDU did win 2 games in the 2023 NCAAT including beating #1 seed Purdue.

[RhowdyRam02]

From the Assumption thread:

No real surprises here...

That starting five would have eaten last year's starting five for breakfast, and picked it's teeth with the bones.

Last year's starting five opening night was Leggett, Martin, Thomas, Samb, and Freeman. Tchikou and Carey played more than Freeman and Thomas led the team in minutes.

Our last game of the year the starting five was Martin, Leggett, Thomas, Carey, and Stewart, with Weston, Tchikou, and Hutchinson all getting more minutes than Stewart

[jcru]

I wonder if they would have tasted better with BBQ sauce or spicy szechuan General Tso's?

[jcru]

My favorite part of that poster is Zek using his right hand under his left bicep to make his arm look enormous.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I wonder if they would have tasted better with BBQ sauce or spicy szechuan General Tso's?

Either one is good, but for me, that's kind of a wait and see how I'm feeling when it gets closer to feeding time decision. Both excellent choices, though.

[SandorClegane]

Just throwing this out.. with the impending return of Bilau, would Miller consider redshirting Stewart? He’ll likely be our 5th forward on the depth chart. If Green is permitted to play, he falls to 6th.w

[section(105)]

I would say no. What is to gain there? Perhaps he is more likely headed for the portal to lower level?

[Rhodymob05]

Rory only played 10.5 min a game last season, I can’t imagine that increases.

[Rhody74]

I would say no. What is to gain there? Perhaps he is more likely headed for the portal to lower level?

That’s my guess.

[KingstonLane]

Just throwing this out.. with the impending return of Bilau, would Miller consider redshirting Stewart? He’ll likely be our 5th forward on the depth chart. If Green is permitted to play, he falls to 6th.w

If Rory sees the floor, his usage will be totally different than any of the other forwards (besides green if he were to play)

[PeterRamTime]

Just throwing this out.. with the impending return of Bilau, would Miller consider redshirting Stewart? He’ll likely be our 5th forward on the depth chart. If Green is permitted to play, he falls to 6th.w

If Rory sees the floor, his usage will be totally different than any of the other forwards (besides green if he were to play)

Maybe we bring him out if someone is playing zone against us? Then we hope he's on. He seems like a guy where you don't know what you're gonna get. In his FIBA tournament he was either totally off or making shots all over the place...more of the former.

[KingstonLane]

Just throwing this out.. with the impending return of Bilau, would Miller consider redshirting Stewart? He’ll likely be our 5th forward on the depth chart. If Green is permitted to play, he falls to 6th.w

If Rory sees the floor, his usage will be totally different than any of the other forwards (besides green if he were to play)

Maybe we bring him out if someone is playing zone against us? Then we hope he's on. He seems like a guy where you don't know what you're gonna get. In his FIBA tournament he was either totally off or making shots all over the place...more of the former.

Definitely. His usefulness will be only as helpful as how hot of a hand he has any given game. But when/if he’s hitting shots it really opens up the floor for us. And will change how teams have to adjust on the fly

[PeterRamTime]

If Rory sees the floor, his usage will be totally different than any of the other forwards (besides green if he were to play)

Maybe we bring him out if someone is playing zone against us? Then we hope he's on. He seems like a guy where you don't know what you're gonna get. In his FIBA tournament he was either totally off or making shots all over the place...more of the former.

Definitely. His usefulness will be only as helpful as how hot of a hand he has any given game. But when/if he’s hitting shots it really opens up the floor for us. And will change how teams have to adjust on the fly

The good think is we won't have to rely on him. If he looks like a fish out of water out there we just bench him and keep playing everyone else.

Just need him to play smart and make open threes.

[Jersey77]

Maybe we bring him out if someone is playing zone against us? Then we hope he's on. He seems like a guy where you don't know what you're gonna get. In his FIBA tournament he was either totally off or making shots all over the place...more of the former.

Definitely. His usefulness will be only as helpful as how hot of a hand he has any given game. But when/if he’s hitting shots it really opens up the floor for us. And will change how teams have to adjust on the fly

The good think is we won't have to rely on him. If he looks like a fish out of water out there we just bench him and keep playing everyone else.

Just need him to play smart and make open threes.

Hopefully the game slowed down for him, and he will contribute.
Same goes for Weston who I expect to be improved.