UMass vs URI - Battle For 1st in A-10
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UMass vs URI - Battle For 1st in A-10
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.
"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.
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.
URI Rams 2014-2015 Projected Starting Lineup
Guard- E.C. Matthews
Sophomore E.C. Matthews will lead the Rams back court and scoring this season after having a great freshman year. The 6'5" Matthews averaged 15.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the Rams last season and since January of 2014, he has had seven games where he has scored at least 20 points.
Matthews was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list earlier in the preseason, signifying that he is already one of the best guards in the country.
Guard- Jared Terrell
One of the players to watch for off the bench is 6'3" freshman Jared Terrell who is ranked as one of of the top prospects in America. In high school, at Brewster Academy, Terrell averaged 14.5 points and five rebounds per game. Terell chose URI over several other high level D-I schools, including the rival Providence Friars.
Guard- Biggie Minnis
Biggie Minnis, a 6'3" junior, will be the third guard in the rotation for the Rams this season. Minnis appeared in 21 games last season for the Rams and started in 11 games. He missed eight games due to injury.
In the games he played, Minnis averaged just under five points per game and shot over 50% from the floor. If he can stay healthy, the Rams will be looking forward to more of that.
Forward- Gilvydas Biruta
6'8" Senior Gilvydas Biruta is coming off a year where he was one of the team captains and averaged just over 10 points per game and shot 67% from the floor. Biruta was also a force on the boards pulling down an average of seven rebounds per game for Rhode Island.
URI will look for him to take the next step this year as he helps lead the Rams through the season.
Forward- Hassan Martin
Sophomore Forward Hassan Martin was a first year presence for the Rams last season. The Staten Island bred big man averaged over 6 points and 5 rebounds per game in his freshman season, while also adding 2.5 blocks per game. Along with Biruta, Martin anchor a Rams defense that looks very promising.
The Rams could be in very good shape this season if Martin is able to take big steps towards improving his offensive game.
6th man- T.J. Buchanan
Senior guard T.J. Buchanan was the first man off the bench for the Rams last season. In that role, the 6'4" Buchanan averaged just under six points per game and had a field goal percentage of 65 for the season. Buchanan will look to add to those numbers in the same role this season.
Buchanan will also bring some much needed veteran leadership off the bench.
