URI Falls 60-59 to Davidson in A-10 Thriller

Bracketology

With this home loss to Davidson, the Rams now fall into a four way tie for first place in the A-10 with Davidson, Dayton and VCU. VCU was upset by Richmond on Wednesday night and so that's where the four way tie comes from. 

Still not a terrible place to be for the Rams but as far as NCAA tournament hopes go, this one hurts. Davidson's RPI (53) was lower than URI's (66) and losing at home is never good. This would have been a nice win for URI. 

Looking ahead. 

The Rams have three games remaining in their regular season, two of which are on the road and the potential for a huge matchup with Dayton is still on the horizon. 

If the Rams can win out then they should have a top two seed in the A-10 tournament and from there should be able to make a nice run.

I believe getting to the A-10 Final would definitely get them in to NCAA's, getting to the semi finals would be really close. 

The upcoming weeks are vital for URI. 

E.C. Matthews

E.C. Matthews netted 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. 

Matthews was also responsible for the only three-pointer that URI made in the entire game, coming about mid way through the second half. 

E.C. Matthews also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out two assists and had two steals. 

Hassan Martin

Hassan Martin had a monster game for URI, netting 17 points and pulling down 16 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. 

Martin also totaled five blocked shots in the game. 

However, Martin's 3-of-9 from the free throw line proved costly as hi 1-of-2 from the free throw line kept URI's lead at only two, 59-57, and allowed Davidson to win the game with a three. A two point lead instead of a three point lead was obviously a huge difference in that situation.

With that said, the entire team missed free throws the entire night. 

34 %

URI did not shoot well at all in this game but because of their solid defense they managed to hang around. 

The Rams shot 34% from the field, including 1-of-19 (5.3%) from beyond the arc. E.C. Matthews made the only three pointer in the game for URI. 

Despite the poor shooting in the, URI played tremendous defense, especially in the second half  and if they could make a free throw, they would have won the game. 

Davidson did not exactly light it up, shooting 41% from the field but only 23% in the second half. 

16-for-33

URI did a great job in the game of getting themselves to the free throw line, however, once they got there, it was a disaster. 

URI went 16-of-33 from the free throw line en route to a free throw shooting percentage of 48.5%, and that's only because E.C. Matthews went 7-of-8. from the line. 

In fact, if you take out Matthews free throws, URI went 9-of-25 from the line for a shooting percentage of 36%. 

Hassan Martin went 3-of-9 and Biggie Minnis went 3-of-7 from the charity stripe. 

Free throw shooting has been a bit of an issue at different points throughout the season and it has to be a concern as tournament play rolls around.