Recap
The Rams seemingly never-ending pursuit of rock bottom continued Saturday night as they fell 72-61 to George Washington. GW completed the season sweep in a game that never felt as close as the final score indicated. Rhody’s only lead of the game came at 1:30 to the tune of a score of 4-3, with the Colonials pulling away the rest of the first half and keeping the Rams at bay throughout the second half. URI’s usual plagues of turnovers and missed free throws haunted them once again. Losing the turnover battle 17-11 and only shooting 8-18 from the stripe is going to give a less talented team every opportunity to beat you senseless.
It looked like a long night was incoming for the Rams from the jump as they struggled to stay in front of Joe Bamisile and James Bishop early and often, allowing them easy lanes to the rim for either layups or dump-off passes to teammates. The Rams struggled to find a rhythm at any point on the offensive end as their most effective offense all night was a Malik Martin (12 points, 9 rebounds) offensive rebound and put back. The Mitchell Twins led the way scoring-wise for the Rams with 15 for Mahkel and 13 for Mahki. The loss clinches a losing record in conference for Rams, their first back-to-back losing years since Year 1 and Year 2 of the Dan Hurley rebuild. Here are some more thoughts on the game.
Malik Martin was the only thing that kept this game close for the Rams. Five offensive rebounds led to five completed layups for Martin, who played with his usual level of high effort and willingness to attack. Martin finished 6-7 from the floor.
While the Mitchel Twins led the team in scoring, a 5-12 effort from the line by Mahkel and 5 turnovers by Mahki fueled the GW attack. The two never seemed to fully find a rhythm. At one point early in the second half 6’2 James Bishop came to offer weak side help on a drive to the basket, blocked the shot, and forced a jump ball turnover. Add in a rare 3 second violation and GW managed to mitigate their size deficiency nicely.
In an effort to switch up their defensive approach in the first half, the Rams used a blitzing zone defense that seemed to slow GW’s penetration. It also led to some looks from deep that GW was able to take care of, knocking down eleven 3’s on the game. I liked the idea and was more than glad to see an adjustment from the Rams but the Colonials just made enough of their shots.
Guard play continued to be an issue for the Rams as they were outplayed by the combo of Bamisile and Bishop. Leggett, El-Amin, Sheppard, Thomas, and Carey combined to only shoot 36% from the field and really struggled to take care of the ball against any sign of pressure. Ish El-Amin’s minutes continued to be cut, only playing fifteen in this game, despite not playing any worse or different that his back court counterparts.
A sequence at the end of the first half was the perfect representation of the Rams in the conference season. Off a missed shot by Ricky Lindo JR., Jalen Carey went to grab the rebound with one hand and opened it up to be poked away by GW’s Qwanzi Samuels. Samuels quickly kicked it out to Joe Bamisile, who knocked down the long range buzzer beater. A lack of attention to detail, effort, and fundamental approach to the game led to the shot which felt like a knockout blow despite only coming in the first half.
Teams just seem to play their best and most authentic versions of themselves when they play URI. Something about playing Rhody inspires other teams to play with a confidence and intensity they may not achieve otherwise. It’s tough to feel like other teams are playing with more edge but that’s exactly how it has felt all year.
As the game wrapped up Tuesday night many people on Twitter pointed out the fact that the men's basketball team is trending down while so many other programs at URI are trending up. Football just completed a great season, the women’s basketball team is knocking on the door of their first NCAA tournament berth in 26 years, and both track and field programs continue to dominate. If the Athletic department hopes to keep up with its recent record of success, the men's basketball team has to be better. As the flagship program, MBB is needed to drive revenue and eyeballs to the University. If the empty seats at the Ryan Center are any indication, revenue and eyeballs don’t tend to follow losing teams.
The rams travel to Olean to take on the Bonnas this Tuesday night at 7 on CBSSN