Among the contributors to the rise of the A-10 has been the UMass Minutemen, who currently stand at 18-4, 5-3 in conference play. Some very good non-conference wins against LSU, New Mexico, BYU and Providence have UMass thinking big things in March.
In order to get there, however, they're going to have to step their game up on the road. A 1-3 record away from the Mullins Center in conference play isn't the most inspiring of looks, especially with the one win coming against bottom-feeder George Mason. Today's game, as you may have heard, is at the Ryan Center in Kingston.
Looking at the bigger picture here, UMass vs. URI is a rivalry that makes sense on a number of levels. While Rhody's biggest rivalry always has and always will be Providence College, the fact remains PC plays in the Big East and has access to the Dunkin' Donuts Center. It's also a smaller, private school, and while Ocean State bragging rights are always fun, I think the Minutemen and Rams can build up a mutual respect and hatred of one another.
For starters, they're both flagship state schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island respectively. The drive from Kingston to Amherst is only about two hours. Throw in the fact that they're the only New England-based schools in the Atlantic 10, it makes too much sense.
Both teams have been on a similar trajectory the last 20 years or so, too. UMass made the NCAA tournament each year from 1992-1998, with the apex being the 1996 Final Four team featuring Marcus Camby. Rhode Island made the tournament 1993 and then 1997-1999, with the highlight being the run to the Elite 8 in '98, plus a year of Lamar Odom. Neither team has appeared in the Big Dance since the turn of the century, although that's not to say there hasn't been a fair share of heartbreaking NIT appearances, followed by bottoming out.
UMass has appeared in the NIT again each of the last two seasons, and with their sights now set on bigger things in March, Rhode Island fans must realize these things take some time. The damage of the 7-24 season in 2011-2012 was a humbling experience, but there's no question head coach Dan Hurley has this thing heading in the right direction. After going 8-21 in his debut year, the Rams are 11-12 heading into today's contest, and finishing .500 remains a realistic goal. His UMass counterpart Derek Kellogg won just 12 games each of his first two seasons in Amherst before getting to .500 in his third.
For URI, today's game is about finally winning a big game at home. One-point losses to Providence and Saint Louis, two teams that also have aspirations of playing in March, have shown Rhody is a different animal at the Ryan Center. There's also just a bit of a revenge factor in play here.
Back in 2009-2010, the last time the Rams won 20 games, most experts believed beating UMass in the regular season finale would pretty much guarantee a trip to the NCAA tournament. Instead, Ricky Harris of UMass made a layup with 3.5 seconds left to give the Minutemen a 69-67 victory, all but dooming Rhody to the NIT.
A loss by UMass today won't necessarily doom them, but losing to URI sure wouldn't be a great look in front of the NCAA selection committee.
I'm projecting UMass to be able to exploit the Rams lack of depth today. Cady Lalanne will have a field day in particular if Gilvydas Biruta and Hassan Martin get into foul trouble, which has been an issue of late. Rhody will keep it close throughout, but a lack of experience winning close games will haunt them in the end.
This blog is also going to appear on The UMass Basketball Report, which can be found at www.umassbasketballreport.com Adam Stein, UMass class of 2013, runs the site, which is all things Minutemen basketball. Give it a read, and check out what Rhode Island basketball can hope to match within the next year or two.
You can also listen to today's game on 90.3 WRIU, or online at www.wriu.org. Pre-game coverage starts at 3:00, and tip-off at 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment