If you asked me to explain the principles of quantum mechanics and how the University of Rhode Island’s men’s basketball team is seventh in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings, I think I could better explain quantum mechanics than the rollercoaster ride that has been this men’s basketball season.
I’m going to try my best, so for the next 600 words, I will recap the season, go over some top moments, some lowlights and what to expect with five games left until the A-10 tournament.
The Rams started off the season 9-0, the best record to start a season since the 1947-48 season, and entered A-10 play with an 11-1 record. Their only non-conference loss came on Dec. 10 against Brown University in double overtime by a score of 84-80. This loss was also the only true road game the Rams played during their non-conference schedule. While the loss was disappointing for the program and its fans, the Rams had some standout wins, including a remarkable 69-63 comeback win on Dec. 7 against Ocean State rival Providence College and an 85-79 win on Dec. 21 against Temple University in the Hall of Fame Classic, where fourth-year guard Sebastian Thomas was named MVP (a recurring theme throughout the season).
These come-from-behind and wire-to-wire wins created a feeling of hope and excitement around Kingston not felt since the Dan Hurley era. Thomas had hit multiple game-winners and daggers and was building his brand as the hometown hero. The team was off to one of its best starts to a season in program history.
The Rams fell to Duquesne University 67-55 on Dec. 31 in their first game of A-10 play and just their second road game all year. This game felt like it could have been a defining win that would’ve shown the fans and the rest of the A-10 that the Rams are for real. Instead, it felt like fans were watching the URI teams of the last few seasons, where expectations were almost non-existent as fans reassured themselves that it was just a “rebuilding year” and the team would eventually hit its stride under URI Head Coach Archie Miller. Not so fun fact: since Miller’s first season as head coach, the Rams are 5-24 in true road games, including a 1-6 record this season.
For the first seven games of conference play, the Rams reached that part of the rollercoaster where you constantly go over small hills that try and make your stomach reach your throat as they never won or lost consecutive games. It was quite literally the epitome of mid. They then lost back-to-back games against Virginia Commonwealth University and La Salle University.
The “comeback kids,” as fans described them, seemed to have lost that spark they always had coming out of halftime. The Rams dropped to 13th in the standings, and it seemed like the magical season that had the Ryan Center rocking was a lifetime ago.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the “comeback kids” and the hope that followed them came back. The Rams rattled off two straight wins against St. Bonaventure University on Feb. 12 and La Salle on Feb. 15. In the game against the Bonnies, the Rams were down by as much as 13, but third-year transfer Jamarques Lawrence dropped a career-high 20 points, including a game-winning three with two seconds left to lift the Rams to a 68-64 win. In the game against La Salle, the “comeback kids” weren’t needed as the Rams led for the entire game in a dominant 86-71 win.
In the span of a week, the Rams went from one of the bottom three teams in the A-10 to seventh place. The A-10 is as crowded as ever, as fourth-place Loyola University Chicago and 12th-place Duquesne are only separated by two games. Every win matters, but with five games left in conference play, these wins matter just a bit more as teams continue to vie for better positioning in the standings and the crucial double-bye in the A-10 tournament.
We’ll see if the Rams and Miller can snap their four-game road losing streak and continue their surge in the standings as they head to St. Louis to take on Saint Louis University on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on USA Network, with a radio broadcast available on The Varsity Network.
