URI rolls in A-10 opener
Patriots can’t hang with Rams, 83-64
KINGSTON — Supposedly, the start of conference play marks a shift to tougher competition for most teams.
For the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team, the first Atlantic 10 game of the year was practically a vacation. The Rams bombarded George Mason with a dazzling offensive display on a snowy Saturday afternoon at the Ryan Center, cruising to an 83-64 win.
Due to the grueling nonconference schedule the Rams put themselves through, their conference opener against the Patriots was their most favorable matchup since November. George Mason has
taken a step back since surging to the .500 level in conference play a year ago and are now more akin to a Brown or Holy Cross, two of URI’s weaker non-conference pairings.
“We played so many good teams,” URI head coach Dan Hurley said. “Even the last three - forget the Virginia’s, Seton Hall’s. You saw what PC did Wednesday [beating St. John’s]. These are all teams that would be at the top of our league, middle of our league. Very good teams. We’ve been hardened through the non-conference and I think it’s going to help us.”
From the opening moments, the game was a nodoubter. URI scored the first 11 points, then answered a Patriots 7-0 spurt with unanswered runs of 13 in a row and eight straight. The lead was as large as 18 in the first half, and stretched out to as many as 32 in the second.
“We wanted to start fast and sustain it,” Hurley said. “I thought our starting group today was just dominant.”
E.C. Matthews and Jared Terrell continued to look like an unguardable combination. They both hit 3-pointers on the opening 11-point salvo, and had double-digits by the break. Matthews finished with a game-high 18 points, while Terrell had 16, his ninth double-digit scoring effort so far this year.
“When you have E.C. Matthews and Jared Terrell on the wing, when you have Batman and Batman out there, it’s a huge problem for the other team,” Hurley said. “These guys are in their prime. They’re fully mature players with tons of game and biggame experience. Not that many teams in the country have wings like that.”
Matthews broke out against Florida Gulf Coast last Wednesday, and built on that 20-point performance with another stellar display on Saturday. In the opening minutes alone, Matthews hit a 3pointer, grabbed three rebounds and emphatically blocked a shot at the rim.
The only remaining vestige of his fractured wrist came on a play that echoed the one that originally sidelined him for a month. After collecting a loose ball, the redshirt senior surged to the rim and was taken to the ground hard by a defender. He quickly bounced up, but flexed his left wrist as he walked to the free throw line.
“I’m good,” Matthews said, waving off any concerns about his wrist. “God got me.”
The lead hit 18 for the first time on a fast-break alley-oop from Matthews to Terrell, a soaring slam that’s a sure bet for any future highlight reels culled from this season.
Matthews got in on the other end of some alley-oop action later on in the second half. Already leading by 30plus points, Matthews flew through the air and sent a Jarvis Garrett feed through the cylinder with authority.
“It’s really fun when the pace is that fast,” Matthews said. “Coach preaches to us to get the ball out and run. When you have a great group of guards like we have, it makes the game so much easier and efficient.”
“We like to play off each other a lot,” added Jeff Dowtin. “When the ball is moving like that, it’s fun to watch.”
The Rams held an edge in nearly every statistical category in as dominant a win as you’re likely to see in the A-10 this year. URI’s guard-stacked lineups accumulated a staggering 24 assists on 69 field goal attempts, both of which marked new season highs. The assist total was the highest in a game for the team since 2010. Four of the five starters scored in double-figures, and Dowtin was one point shy of that plateau.
“If we pass the ball the way like we did tonight and the way we did the last game - if we make eight, nine 3-pointers, we’re going to be very hard to beat,” Hurley said.
Dowtin only attempted six shots, preferring instead to dish the ball out to his teammates. He lamented postgame that he failed to set a new career high in that stat.
“I needed 10,” assists, he said. “I needed three more, and I only got one.”
“You could say that,” he continued, on applying the label of pass-first guard to him. “I just like to win. If I have to get nine points, eight assists to do it, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
“He’s a tremendous twoway guard,” Hurley said. “His length - what he’s able to do against point guards or the other team’s best perimeter player. He’s so smart, he understand angles. The scouting report on guys is ingrained in his brain.”
As he has the past three games, Hurley kicked off his postgame presser by thanking the Ryan Center crowd. Saturday’s contest featured the second-highest attendance total this season, only behind the PC sellout.
“Crowd - with the weather and the students not in session - great crowd,” he said of the 6,383 fans who braved the snow. “It just keeps growing and getting bigger. It almost becomes an event when we play at home. That’s why the VCU’s and the Dayton’s of this league have been so dominant at home.”
The Rams will look to continue that dominance when they close out their five-game home stand this Wednesday