2014-15 Rhode Island men’s basketball media notes GAME #12: Saint Louis (8-5, 0-0 A-10) Saturday, January 3, 2015 • 3 p.m. ET • Chaifetz Arena • St. Louis, Mo. TV/STREAM: NBC Sports Network - Steve Schlanger/Ben Howland TWITTER: @RhodyMBB stream.nbcsports.com AUDIO: B101 (101.5 FM) - Steve McDonald/Don Kaull; YOUTUBE: youtube.com/rhodeislandMBB iHeart.com; iHeartRadio app (audio) 2014-15 Schedule/TV/results RHODE ISLAND VERSUS SAINT LOUIS Tale of the Tape - Today’s Game 8-3 Overall H: 6-0 A: 1-1 N: 1-2 • Today’s Atlantic 10 opener marks the first of two regular season meetings between URI SLU 0-0 Atlantic 10 H: 0-0 A: 0-0 the Rams and the Billikens. SLU comes to Kingston on Feb. 14. Overall Record 8-3 8-5 Date Opponent TV Time • Rhody leads the all-time series between the two schools, which began during RPI (NCAA.com) 56 262 SOS (ESPN.com) 81 317 Nov. 14 Pace CoxHub W, 94-54 the 2005-06 season, at 7-6. KenPom.com 48 248 Nov. 16 UMass Lowell CoxHub W, 72-56 • Rhode Island saw its last five-game win streak vs. SLU snapped last season at the Last 5 Games 4-1 3-2 Nov. 22 #21/21 Nebraska OSN W, 66-62 (ot) Thomas M. Ryan Center as SLU took a 59-58 win on Jan. 7, 2014. Scoring Offense 71.5 61.2 Orlando Classic - HP Field House - Orlando, Fla. • Last year, the Rams traveled to the Chaifetz Arena on Jan. 19, 2013 and earned Scoring Defense 56.9 62.2 Nov. 27 vs. #11/12 Kansas ESPN2 L, 60-76 an 82-80 overtime victory over the Billikens. Scoring Margin +14.5 -1.0 Nov. 28 vs. Santa Clara ESPNU W, 66-44 FG% .480 .411 Nov. 30 vs. Georgia Tech ESPNU L, 61-64 3-Point FG% .316 .333 Dec. 6 at Southern Miss W, 75-43 RHODE ISLAND IN THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE FT% .642 .659 Dec. 10 at Providence OSN L, 60-68 • Since its inaugural season in 1980-81, Rhode Island has posted a 240-305 all-time FG% Defense .384 .450 Dec. 13 Delaware State CoxHub W, 83-44 record in Atlantic 10 regular season play. 3-Pt. FG% Defense .276 .385 Dec. 20 Detroit OSN W, 69-55 • URI was picked to finish ninth according to the 2014-15 A-10 Preseason Poll. Rebounding Off. 36.4 30.1 Dec. 31 Brown OSN W, 80-60 • Last season, Rhody finished with a 5-11 mark in A-10 play, putting them in 11th Rebounding Def. 30.5 34.1 Rebounding Margin +5.8 -4.0 Jan. 3 at Saint Louis * NBCSN 3 p.m. place in the league standings. Jan. 7 Fordham * CI 7 p.m. Assists 13.8 12.7 • On Jan. 18, 2012 - at Fordham - Rhode Island played its 500th A-10 game all-time. Jan. 10 at Duquesne * ASN/SNY 1 p.m. Turns/TO Margin 13.4/+1.9 13.0/+2.7 Steals 6.8 6.3 Jan. 13 VCU * CBSSN 7:30 p.m. Blocks 4.5 2.5 Jan. 17 at Massachusetts * NBCSN 2:30 p.m. RHODE Island IN Atlantic 10 OPENERS Jan. 22 La Salle * OSN 7 p.m. • Since joining the Eastern Eight/Atlantic 10 conference during the 1980-81 season, Rhode Island has compiled a 14-20 overall Jan. 25 St. Bonaventure * OSN 2 p.m. record in league opening games. Jan. 28 at Fordham * 7 p.m. • Last year, the Rams dropped a 59-58 decision at home vs. Saint Louis on Jan. 7, 2014 in their first conference game of the year. Jan. 31 George Washington * OSN/SNY 4 p.m. • The Rams have dropped their last seven A-10 openers, dating back to the 2007-08 season. Feb. 8 at Richmond * NBCSN 2:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at Saint Joseph’s * 7 p.m. RHODE ISLAND RANKS AMONG TOP DEFENSIVE TEAMS NATIONALLY Feb. 14 Saint Louis * OSN 2 p.m. Feb. 18 Massachusetts * SNY 7 p.m. • KenPom.com ranks the Rams 35th nationally in defensive efficiency - 91.8 (points allowed per 100 possessions) Feb. 21 at George Mason * 4 p.m. • URI ranks among the top 40 teams in defensive eFG% (28th - 43.0%), defensive turnover% (36th - 23.0%); and defensive Feb. 25 Davidson * OSN 7 p.m. rebounding% (32nd - 73.3%) Feb. 28 at La Salle * NBCSN 12:30 p.m. • SCORING DEFENSE: The Rams are 17th nationally/1st in the A-10 in scoring defense, yielding just 56.9 points per game. March 3 at Dayton * CBSSN 7 p.m. • Through 11 games, only four Rhody opponents have scored more than 60 points in regulation. March 7 Saint Joseph’s * OSN 2 p.m. • Three Rhody opponents - Santa Clara (44), Southern Miss (43), and Delaware State (44) did not break the 50 mark. • 3FG% DEFENSE: URI ranks 18th nationally/1st in the A-10 in 3FG defense, yielding just 27.8% (38-144) from beyond the arc. Mar 11-15 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship - Barclays Ctr. - Brooklyn • Only two opponents (Kansas, Brown) have made more than five 3-point field goals in a game versus the Rams. All times Eastern (ET); Home in bold; Atlantic 10 denoted by * • FG% DEFENSE: The Rams’ defense is holding foes to just 38.4% shooting from the floor - 50th nationally and 2nd in the A-10. • In each of its eight wins, Rhody has held its opponent under the 40.0% mark from the floor. • TURNOVER MARGIN: Rhode Island is +1.9 in turnover margin, which is tied for 83rd-best among all NCAA Division I teams. • Over its last five games, URI’s turnover margin is +4.4, forcing opponents into an average of 16.4 turns per game. 2014-15 University of Rhode Island Rams At A Glance No. Player Class Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Previous School Notes 0 E.C. Matthews So. G 6-5 190 Detroit, Mich. / Romulus Season-high 27 pts at Providence; ranks 3rd in A-10 in scoring (17.2 ppg) 1 Jarvis Garrett Fr. G 6-0 170 Milwaukee, Wisc. / Notre Dame Prep Freshman point guard with 1.90:1 assist/turnover; 10 p/6 a vs. Delaware State 2 Jarelle Reischel Jr. F 6-5 210 Frankfurt, Germany / Rice 10 pts./2 reb./1 stl. vs. Brown; versatile forward off the bench 10 Biggie Minnis Jr. G 6-3 200 Philadelphia, Pa. / Texas Tech 10 pts/5 asst. vs. Brown; point guard has 17 asst and 4 TO in last five games 11 Matthew Butler So. G 6-2 185 Memphis, Tenn. / Memphis East Reserve guard shooting 46.2% from 3FG (6-13) in 2014-15 12 Hassan Martin So. F 6-7 230 Staten Island, N.Y. / Curtis Ranks 1st in A-10 in FG% (68.9%), 15th in rebounding (6.3 rpg) 13 T.J. Buchanan Sr. G 6-4 210 Kalamazoo, Mich. / Kalamazoo Central Veteran ranks 3rd in A-10 and 26th nationally with 3.00:1 assist/turnover ratio 14 Ifeanyi Onyekaba Jr. F 6-8 265 Abuja, Nigeria / Va. Episcopal School Physical post presence; will provide depth at the center spot in 2014-15 20 Eric Youncofski Jr. G 5-10 150 Middletown, N.J. / Middletown North Walk-on guard who has seen action in 13 career games 22 Rory Temkin Sr. G 6-3 180 Narragansett, R.I. / Bishop Hendricken Joined the team in late November as a walk-on guard 30 Shane Plunkett Jr. G 6-3 195 Brookville, N.Y. / Long Island Lutheran Entering third season with Rams; walk-on has appeared in 13 games 32 Jared Terrell Fr. G 6-3 220 Weymouth, Mass. / Brewster Academy One of the A-10’s top newcomers; has scored in double digits in seven games 33 Earl Watson Jr. F 6-7 255 Fort Pierce, Fla. / Chipola College Has made 19-of-26 from the floor (73.1% FG); strong, physical post presence 55 Gilvydas Biruta Sr. F 6-8 235 Jonava, Lithuania / Rutgers Shooting 59.7% FG (43-72)/good for 5th in A-10; 16 pts, 7 reb vs. Kansas 2014-15 University of Rhode Island Men’s Basketball @RhodyMBB TODAY’S RHODE ISLAND FACT(S) YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT Individual Career Totals • Theme: Select Company on National Rankings • Rhode Island is one of just nine teams nationally to rank among the top 50 in FG% and FG% defense. Player G Pts. Reb. Asst. Stl. Blk. • The other eight teams: Gonzaga, Kentucky, Michigan State, N.C. Central, Ohio State, SMU, TCU, and Virginia. Biruta 107 1057 630 119 74 61 • The Rams rank 32nd (48.0%) in FG% and 49th in FG% defense (38.4%) according to the latest NCAA rankings. Matthews 43 646 184 99 39 30 Buchanan 100 440 262 182 67 17 TODAY IN RHODE ISLAND BASKETBALL - JANUARY 3 Reischel 79 430 208 59 49 8 • Rhode Island is 11-10 overall and 4-3 in Atlantic 10 games played all-time on January 3. Martin 44 330 251 19 26 101 • The last January 3 victory came over Akron (79-50) in 2009. URI dropped its last January 3 game - at Florida in 2011. Minnis 59 217 137 117 42 5 • Janaury 3 also marks the celebration of National Drinking Straw Day. Terrell 11 105 26 11 13 3 Onyekaba 38 100 108 2 8 17 RHODE ISLAND IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY Butler 32 53 16 10 4 0 • Since joining the Eastern 8 in the 1980-81 season, URI has posted a 267-214 mark in non-conference play.