URI Kicks Off A-10 Tournament Play vs. George Washington
GoLocalProv Sports Team
URI Kicks Off A-10 Tournament Play vs. George Washington
URI finished the regular season with an overall record of 21-8 and 13-5 in the A-10.
Last Time out
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Rams closed the season with a 78-68 home win over Saint Joseph's on senior day for Gilvydas Biruta and T.J. Buchanan.
The Rams trailed by five points, 42-37, with 19 minutes left to play in the game before outscoring the Hawks 41-26 the rest of the way.
Biruta led URI with 18 points in the game.
The George Washington Colonials (20-11, 10-8 A-10)
George Washington got off to a fast start, starting conference play with a 6-1 record before losing six of their next seven games. They have since turned it around and come into the A-10 tournament playing some great basketball, having won three of their last four games including a 73-55 win over Duquesne in the second round of the A-10 tournament.
"They are playing better then their seed, playing more like a top seed right now," URI radio play by play man Steve MacDonald told GoLocalProv.
George Washington is led by Patricio Garino who has averaged 12 points and five rebounds per game for the Colonials. Garino netted ten points in George Washington's only game against the Rams this season.
Kethan Savage follows up Garino, averaging 11 points and also pulling down five rebounds per game. Like Garino, Savage only netted ten points against the Rams in the regular season.
Kevin Larsen also averages 11 points for the Colonials but is a force on the boards, puling down seven rebounds per game.
George Washington vs. URI - Jan. 31 - URI Wins 59-55
The only time URI faced George Washington this season was on January 31 at the Ryan center when URI used a 12-2 run with 5:27 left to play to take a 55-50 lead. The Rams held on to win the game 59-55.
Jared Terrell led URI with 17 points while Hassan Martin notched a double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds in the game.
Kethan Savage led the Colonials with ten points and five assists.
The Rams are in for a tough first round matchup against a George Washington tam that is playing as good as anyone in the conference at the moment.
The key for the Rams is going to be defense. Throughout the season, URI has shown the ability to play lock down defense. URI radio play by play man Steven MacDonald says that's what he expects to see in this game.
"The defense has been great all year but the last few games, it hasn't been that intense. I expect that to change in this game," MacDonald told GoLocal.
Rams begin A-10 Tournament run
URI and George Washington tip off thier third round matchup on Friday, March 13 at 9 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The game can be seen on the NBC Sports Network.
If the Rams win, they will face Dayton on Saturday, March 14 at 4 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.
