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University of Rhode Island -4 Over Saint Louis
The Rams have been struggling lately, but they are better than
we've seen. Tourney game is in the Ryan Center (at home)
they can get by this round. Coach Baron and the seniors will lead
the team to victory tonight.
Saint Louis (12-18) at Rhode Island (18-12)
The Sports Network
DATE & TIME: Tuesday, March 8th, 7:00 p.m. (et).
FACTS & STATS: Site: Thomas M. Ryan Center (7,657) -- Kingston, Rhode Island. Television: None. Home Record: Saint Louis 9-7, URI 10-4. Away Record: Saint Louis 2-9, URI 7-7. Neutral Record: Saint Louis 1-2, URI 1-1. Conference Record: Saint Louis 6-10, URI 9-7. Series Record: Saint Louis leads, 5-4.
GAME NOTES: A couple of teams trying to extend their seasons beyond today hit the hardwood at the Thomas M. Ryan Center in Kingston, as the Rhode Island Rams and the Saint Louis Billikens clash in the first round of the 35th annual Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.
The 11th seed in this year's tourney, the Billikens were actually playing well the last few weeks with four straight wins, but that was before the team ran into the top team in the conference, the Xavier Musketeers, who turned in a 66-55 decision on Saturday afternoon. The defeat dropped Saint Louis to just 6-10 in conference and six games under .500 overall at 12-18.
Meanwhile, the Rams are the sixth seed in the event even though they closed out the regular season with back-to-back defeats at the hands of George Washington and St. Bonaventure. Rhode Island, which couldn't string together more than a couple of wins at a time in the new calendar year, won this event back in 1999, yet overall the team is just 20-29 in the tournament. As for the Billikens, a recent addition to the league, they have a record of 3-5.
URI won the first meeting of the season with SLU back in late January by a score of 59-57 on the road, which means the all-time series between the squads now favors the Billikens by a count of 5-4. Last season in this tournament, the Rams tallied a 63-47 win over Saint Louis.
The winner of tonight's contest will head to Atlantic City for a quarterfinal- round matchup on Friday versus third-seeded Richmond.
First things first with the Billikens, they were the weakest scoring team in the entire league this season with just 63.1 ppg, but at least the defense kept things in check by limiting opponents to only 62.1 ppg which was third- best in the A-10 behind Temple and Richmond. Another knock against Saint Louis is the team's lack of strength in the paint as they ranked last in the A-10 with just 31.5 rpg. Dwayne Evans, who started just 19 of 30 games in 2010-11, was tops non the boards with 6.5 rpg, but as someone who was shooting just 60.4 percent at the free-throw line, having him on the floor wasn't always the best idea. Mike McCall was the lone double-digit scorer during the regular season with 10.3 ppg, adding 87 assists in an effort to kick start the offense in other ways for the Billikens.
Rhode Island was in the middle of the pack in many statistical categories this season, but one area in which the squad stood out was defending behind the three-point line where they allowed foes to convert just 30.4 percent of their opportunities, best in the A-10. Because of that effort, URI's opponents finished a collective 42.8 percent from the floor overall as well, leading to 67.5 ppg. From an offensive standpoint, the Rams took their cue from Delroy James who was fifth in the conference in scoring with 17.6 ppg, using his 164 trips to the free-throw line to help feed that average. Unfortunately, James cost himself some additional scoring opportunities when opting to settle for three-point tries where he was just 23.9 percent accurate (28-of-117). Clearly, the fact that James led the team in rebounding with almost eight per game, should have kept him closer to the rim on offense.
As long as James understands that he does the Rams more harm than good when he floats to the outside on offense, the hosts should be in line for another win against the Billikens tonight.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Rhode Island 68, Saint Louis 59
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Originally Posted by FeelinJuiced
