A court storm struck the Ryan Center after the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team upset No. 18 Saint Louis University, 81-76, on Tuesday night.
“I thought we don’t win the game without our crowd,” URI Head Coach Archie Miller said. “It was a college basketball environment in there tonight, and our students, no doubt about it, the vibe in there… It was such a help.”
The Rams entered the matchup losers of three of their last four games, scoring 70 or fewer points in every loss. The Billikens entered this matchup as the Atlantic 10 Conference’s top-ranked offense, averaging 90.2 points per game, while also boasting the conference’s third-best defense, allowing 67.8 points per game.
It seemed like the perfect recipe for the Billikens to extend their 18-game winning streak to 19 and remain undefeated in conference play. But the Rams brought the madness of March to February.
As seventh-year guard Tyler Cochran knocked down both free throws with 12 seconds remaining in the game to put the Rams up five, the Ryan Center and its packed student section erupted in cheers. The final shots secured the program’s biggest win in the Ryan Center since a 66-62 win over No. 21 University of Nebraska on Nov. 22, 2014.
“As bad as it felt on Saturday, and as good as it feels right now, I kind of know what to expect when we get back into the gym,” Miller said. “It’s a very, very competent group that shows up ready, and you don’t really win games like this just because it’s a one-off.”
Rhody, after their struggles at the free-throw line cost them a win on Saturday against Fordham University, made eight straight free throws in the final 2:51 to keep the Billikens’ comeback attempt at bay. Sixth-year guard Myles Corey made six of those eight and hit 11 total in the game.
“We do stripe work every day, and I’ve been making sure to get mine in,” Corey said. “This [was] a big game, and we needed free throws and we’ve been struggling at the line. So, I just felt like I took pride in it this weekend [and] took pride today just knocking them down.”
The student section was treated to an early energy booster when fifth-year forward Keeyan Itejere slammed the ball through the net in front of the now ruckus crowd. All of URI’s fraternities and sororities were in attendance for Greek Night. The entire arena also wore pink in support of breast cancer awareness and the Gloria Gemma Foundation.
The Billikens held their last lead of the game all the way back at the 14:27 mark in the first half when second-year guard Amari McCottry hit a layup to give Saint Louis a 12-11 lead.
At the 7:18 mark in the first half, Hinton hit his sixth three-pointer of the day and, at that point, had accounted for 20 of the Rams’ 28 points. Hinton would go on to hit another three and finish with 23 points in just the first half.
The two teams traded buckets in the final four minutes of the first half as Rhody headed into halftime with a 43-37 lead.
URI never trailed in the second half; the only time the Rams didn’t hold an outright lead was with 13:34 left after Billikens’ fourth-year guard Dion Brown hit a layup to tie the game at 53.
An 8-2 Rhody run from the 10-minute mark to the seven-minute mark, capped off by sixth-year guard RJ Johnson’s only three of the game, gave the Rams a game-high eight-point lead.
During the run, fourth-year guard Jonah Hinton hit his ninth three-pointer of the game, which set a Ryan Center record and tied the program record with Tyson Wheeler ’98.
The Rams will look to keep the momentum rolling when they travel to the City of Brotherly Love to take on a La Salle University team that has lost five straight on Saturday.
This matchup will be the start of a two-game road trip for the Rams, with three of their last five games being on the road. The last time the two teams faced off, the Explorers defeated the Rams 79-72 at the Ryan Center on Jan. 7.
The game between URI and La Salle will stream at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+, with a radio broadcast available on The Varsity Network.
