UMass vs URI - Battle For 1st in A-10
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
The URI Rams (17-6, 9-3 A-10) tip off against the (16-9, 9-3 A-10) UMass Minutemen in a battle for first place on Wednesday, February 18 at the Ryan Center.
The Rams are coming off a dominating 81-68 win over Saint Louis while UMass is coming off a 82-74 over Duquesne. The URI and UMass wins put both teams in the middle of a four way tie for first place atop the A-10 Conference. Dayton and #25 VCU make up the other two teams in the tie.
One way or the other, the tie will be cut to a three way tie after Wednesday night.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLast Meeting - UMass 60, URI 56
The Rams visited the Minutemen in mid January and lost the game 60-56.
Hassan Martin led URI with 13 points while E.C. Matthews followed up with 11 of his own. Meanwhile, UMass was led by Maxie Esho who had game high 18 points and a couple of critical offensive rebounds in the final seconds.
In the game, URI led 53-47 with 6:22 seconds left but struggled to score the rest of the way as UMass came back.
"URI had to learn how to close out games because they are very young. That's the maturing process of a team," said URI play by play man Steve MacDonald.
"Rhode Island will be a different team in last 5-6 minutes this time around," MacDonald added.
The Minutemen
UMass comes into this game have won six straight and seven of their last eight games.
"They are such a good opponent, one of the toughest schedules of the year, their RPI is sky high," MacDonald said of a battle tested UMass team.
UMass currently has an RPI of 37 which means they have played one of the tougher schedules in the country, playing Florida State, Notre Dame, Providence and NCAA tournament cinderella Florida Gulf Coast.
By comparison, URI's RPI currently sits at 70.
The Minutemen are led by Trey Davis who averages 12 points and four assists per game, while Maxie Esho also averages about 12 points and pulls down just under seven rebounds.
The third leader of the UMass Minutemen is Cady Lalanne who is a monster on the boards, averaging nine rebounds per game for the Minutemen. Lately, Lalanne has also contributed on the offensive end as he has gotten himself in to double figures in five of the last six games, all wins for UMass.
URI Rams
The Rams have a big three of their own in E.C. Matthews, Hassan Martin and Jared Terrell.
E.C. Matthews has led the Rams all season averaging 16 points per game and shooting 42 percent from the field. A minor foot injury plagued him for a couple of games but he has since recovered.
Hassan Martin has five double-doubles to this point in the season and comes into this game averaging 12 points and eight rebounds per game.
"He could be the defensive player of the year in the A-10, one of the best shot blockers in the league," MacDonald said of Martin.
The last piece of the URI big three is freshman Jared Terrell who has started in every game for URI this season.
For the season, Terrell averages 9.4 points per game but has reached double figures in four of the last six games, including a career high 23 points in URI's last game against Saint Louis.
"Jared's scoring has leveled the floor a bit allowing E.C. Matthews to get more good looks," MacDonald said of Terrell. The other reason Terrell is on the floor is due to his defense.
"He has played great defense from day one, that's why he was put in the starting lineup."
UMass vs. URI
The Minutemen and Rams will meet for the 145th time on Wednesday night at the Ryan Center with the winner holding onto a share of first place in the conference.
With UMass having won the first game, it is extra important for the Rams to get this one and cancel out that tiebreaker. A win will also help URI jump up in the RPI rankings.
One key for the Rams is to keep UMass off of the offensive glass. In the last meeting between these teams, UMass had 18 offensive rebounds resulting in 18 points.
Both teams have their big threes and are pretty evenly matched all the way around,
UMass and URI battle for a share of first place in the A-10 on Wednesday, February 18 at the Ryan Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Related Slideshow: URI Rams 2014-2015 Projected Starting Lineup
The URI Men's basketball team returns for the 2014-2015 college basketball season looking to make some noise in the A10 conference. Here is there projected starting lineup.
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