URI Gets 3 Seed, Home Game in 2015 NIT Tournament
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URI Gets 3 Seed, Home Game in 2015 NIT Tournament
URI went 22-9 overall this season and made it to the semifinals of the A-10 tournament before falling 56-52 to Dayton.
The Rams make their 15th appearance in the NIT and their first since 2010 when they advanced to the semifinals in New York before losing to North Carolina.
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A-10 Teams in NIT
Overall, three teams from the A-10 got into the 2015 NIT Tournament, all via At-large bids.
Richmond received a number one seed and will host St. Francis on March 18.
URI gets a three seed and will host Iona while George Washington was given a five seed and will visit Pittsburgh.
Rule Changes for NIT
The NCAA will be experimenting with two rule changes during the 2015 NIT Tournament. The first rule change is regarding the shot clock which will be trimmed from 35 to 30 seconds.
Also, there will be a four foot restricted area arc as opposed to a three foot arc that is currently in place.
2015 NIT Tournament
All NIT games will be televised on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN3 and the semifinals and finals will be held at New York's Madison Square Garden. To see the full NIT bracket, click here.
For tickets to see the URI Rams battle Iona, click here.
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.
