TD Arena, Charleston, SC
Sunday, December 10, 2023
2:00PM
Media
TV: N/A
Online: FloHoops
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Previews
College of Charleston Fan Forum
After losing back-to-back games in the state of Rhode Island, the Rams hope leaving this state will help turn their fortunes around. Rhody now heads to the College of Charleston for an afternoon tilt in South Carolina this coming Sunday. The Cougars have struggled so far this season after having a stellar season last year, making the NCAA tournament. They already have as many losses this season than they did all of last year. Charlestown was picked as preseason favorites in the CAA with 10 of the possible 14 first place votes.
The Cougars have a very well-balanced scoring attack. They have seven players averaging between 11 & 7 points per game. Leading the team in scoring is junior forward Ben Burham with 11.6 points per game. How he finds time to practice considering his arduous standup tour & according to my daughter he is also dating Phoebe Bridges. Oh wait, that last part is Bo Burnham, not Charleston’s Ben Burham. Preseason First Team Ante Brzovic & Preseason Second Team Reyne Smith are both tied at just over 11 points per game. Croatia native Brzonic is a big body downlow, at 6’10, is leading the team in rebounds at over 6 per game. Leading the point is Lafayette transfer CJ Fulton. He is the team’s main distributor with almost three and half assists per game. He is not much of a scorer so the Rams will have to play him as a pass first point guard. The Cougars best deep threats are Reyne Smith & Frankie Policelli. Policelli, whose name couldn’t sound more Italian, may be familiar with some Ram fans as he started his college career at Dayton. And one final stat that will come surprising to absolutely no one, Charleston shoots from the line almost 16% better than URI. Mind blown; I know.
As for the Rams, ummm…they are struggling. They can’t hit free throws, really struggle getting points off of turnovers & potentially don’t get enough three attempts per game. Charleston has played one less game than the Rams but have over 100 more three-point attempts. The Rams are shooting at a decent clip (35.2%) compared to Charleston (28.9%). These two teams last squared off in 2018 & the Rams really struggled from the floor. There may be some consistency in this game compared to the last game because Fatts shot 0-10 from three, which will probably be Foumena & Brown’s combined stat line from the charity stripe on Sunday. Since we just honored the Tyson, Cat, & ARD, I remember sitting in the student section at the Providence Civic Center in the second round of the NIT tournament in March of 1995. It was the first time Charleston & Rhody played each other, and that game was a thriller, with URI winning in overtime. That was the start of something special in Kingston.
As for Sunday’s game, I hope Rhody can pull of the upset win at Charleston, but I don’t see how it will happen with the way this team is currently playing. Even with the Cougars struggling so far, they are undefeated at home, albeit they’ve had just one home game. All their losses have either been at neutral sites or on the road against a ranked FAU team. Some potential good news is that since this game is on FloHoops, so only about 29 people will get to watch how bad Rhody has been playing as of late. My prediction, Charleston 73 – URI 65. Go Rhody!!
Opponent
Record:
4-4, 0-0 in the CAA
31-4, 16-2 in the CAA (Last Season)
Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 131 (240)
RPI: 59 (205)
KenPom: 131 (190)
BPI: 111 (254)
Sagarin: 69 (229)*
Barttovik: 90 (167)
*Denotes Last Season Rankings
Leaders:
Points – Ben Burnham 11.6 (Jr., F)
Rebounds – Ante Brzovic 6.1 (Jr., F)
Assists – CJ Fulton 3.4 (Jr., G) (1.3 TO per game)
Historical
Series: 3-1
H: 2-0, A: 0-1, N: 1-0
Most Recent Matchup: 11/13/18 66-55 L at Charleston
Most Recent Win Streak: 1 - Charleston
Match-up Predictor: 13.9% Chance of URI Winning