Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, RI
Saturday, December 4, 2021
2:00PM
Media
TV: CBSSN
Online: CBSSN
Radio: 101.5 FM (B101) or Tune In Radio App
Previews:
Providence Fan Forum
Another Providence Fan Forum
As of this writing, the annual rivalry game between URI and Providence is scheduled for this coming Saturday afternoon. I have Google alerts set just in case Ed Cooley chickens out of this game again like last season because you can never be too safe. So Rhody fans, don’t get your hopes up too high that this game will actually be played. On the other hand, with the exorbitant prices the Friars are charging for these tickets for this game, it will be tough for Cooley to back out of this one. Providence’s Coach for Life enters his twelfth season but has disappointed the Friar fanbase by amassing just one NCAA tournament win during that span. On the court the Friars are led by 5th year senior center Nate Watson. The Mitchell twins have their work cut out for them as he is a beast downlow averaging roughly 16 & 6. Another player for Rhody fans to keep an eye on is their stretch 4 and adult Macaulay Culkin lookalike, Noah Horchler, who is leading Providence in three pointers made. Unlike what Morey Hershgordon said in his latest podcast, I foresee Walker (or maybe even a little Malik Martin) spending a lot of time matching up against him when the Friars have the ball. Former St Joe’s guard Jared Bynum did not play Wednesday night against Texas Tech & may not be available to play on Saturday after injuring his foot against St. Peters. Indiana transfer Al Durham plays almost 36 minutes a game & has scored in double digits in every game this season, including 23 in his last game. Durham has been sloppy with the ball these last two games with 7 turnovers against St Peters & 4 against Texas Tech Wednesday night. Rhody will need to force more turnovers than Providence is used to committing (12 per game) to win this game. Rhody is shooting the ball better from three, over 5% higher, so the Rams have the advantage there. What worries me is that URI does not have any players on the current team that has played in this rivalry game. Walker is the only one on the roster 2 years ago, but he had to sit because he hadn’t received his waiver from the NCAA after being dismissed from Georgetown, so he didn’t step foot on the court. Other than Walker, no one understands what it is like to play in this rivalry game. Hell, most of this team doesn’t even know what it is like to play in front of a lot of loud fans. This game is unlike any they have played in their college career given it’s a road game that will be in front of roughly 13,000 fans. Conversely Providence has 3 current players who have played in this rivalry game (Watson, Reeves & Fonts). URI is looking for their first road win at Providence since 2002. Yikes! For the love of god, I hope we put a stop to that trend. I am guessing Providence will be favored by around 5.5 points. I for one am hoping for a repeat of when these teams matched up in January of 1979 when URI won by 44 points at the Civic Center. I foresee the first half being a bit of a rock fight as the teams feel each other out & the gameday jitters subside & then a bit more scoring in the second half. Final score of this one will be 69-65. I really hope that the Rams end up victorious, but my head thinks otherwise. Please, please, please win this one. I am tired of leaving downtown with my head down disappointed after a crushing loss. My heart (& liver) can’t take any more of this. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
7-1, 0-0 in the Big East
Last season: 13-13, 9-10 in the Big East
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 87 (112)*
RPI: 15 (27)
KenPom: 60 (78)
BPI: 37 (74)
Sagarin: 50 (86)
* Denotes last season
Leaders:
Points – Nate Watson 16.1 (Sr., C)
Rebounds – Noah Horchler 7.9 (Sr., F)
Assists – Jared Bynum 3.7 (Jr., G) (1.6 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 58-74
H: 40-28, A: 17-43, N: 1-2
Most Recent Matchup: 12/6/19 75-61 W at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 1 – URI
Match-up Predictor: 25.7 Chance of URI Winning
Fun Trivia:
URI/PC have played 3 “neutral site” games from 1981 to 1983. All 3 of these games were at the Providence Civic Center. The reason those games were classified as neutral site games is both schools decided they would split the revenue. Gavitt came up with the idea to play at the Civic Center and split the tickets, revenue, end expenses. Both sets of fans hated it because they could not get their seats. It was then dropped after just a few years and went back to alternating home games. Thanks to Shane Donaldson for some of this information.
One final note:
Hey Coach Cooley…who in your heart of hearts do you think will win this weekend’s rivalry game?