Rhode Island: Are They for Real?
By Matt Josephs for Steve Merril Sports
March is upon us and there is nothing like making a last minute push for an at-large bid. One team that is gaining some “bubble” notice is Rhode Island as the Rams have won six straight and are 10-1 straight-up in their past eleven games overall.This strong finish down the stretch is a reversal from last season when Rhode Island started the year with a 19-3 straight-up record, but failed to make the NCAA Tournament due to a 2-9 SU slide that sent the Rams to the NIT. The question now arises if this year’s Rhode Island squad is capable of punching their ticket to the Big Dance and if the Rams are for real, or are they just another pretender from a smaller conference?
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Rhode Island is 0-3 straight-up (1-2 ATS) this season versus ranked opponents, covering easily as a 25-point road underdog at Duke in November in a narrow 3-point loss, but losing by 13 points on a neutral court versus Villanova (+8½), and losing by a half point against the pointspread in a 65-67 home loss versus Xavier (+1½) in January. Rhode Island also pushed as a 4-point underdog on a neutral court versus Oklahoma State in an 86-82 loss in December.
Rhode Island has not beaten a team currently ranked in my power ratings’ Top 50 this season (0-4 SU) and one of the reason they struggle versus superior opponents is because of weak interior defense that has allowed 51.5% from two-point range this season (national average is just 48.0%). Rhode Island often overcomes this defensive deficiency with excellent shooting on offense as the Rams hit 40.7% from three-point range which currently ranks 6th in the nation as the national average is just 34.3%. They also rank 9th in the nation in points per game as they average 80.4 ppg.
Unfortunately they need every single one of those points as the Rams are 278th in scoring defense. Rhode Island is also 272nd in field goal percentage defense.
Individually, any discussion about URI basketball starts with Jimmy Baron. The head coach’s son shoots 45.8% from three-point land and is also the leading scorer with 16.7 points per game. Baron is one of four different Rhode Island players that average double-digits this season. Helping out is guard Keith Cothran whose has missed five games this season, but is still the second leading scorer with 14.4 ppg. Kahiem Seawright is a close third in scoring with 14.1 ppg and leads the squad in rebounding (7.1 rpg), while Delroy James is fourth in scoring with 10.2 ppg and is second in rebounding (6.1 rpg).
Rhode Island is a solid Atlantic 10 team this season, but unfortunately for the Rams this will not be enough to garner an NCAA Tournament bid. The A-10 only has one legitimate postseason team and that is Xavier. Rhode Island will need to win the Atlantic 10 conference tournament next week; otherwise they are looking at another trip to the NIT. While Rhode Island is an exciting, high-scoring team to watch, their 0-4 SU record versus Top 50 opponents shows that the Rams are not for real.
Matt Josephs is a producer for ESPN Radio in Richmond Virginia. He loves the home underdog and the Temple Owls.
