Nov. 25, 2008

Box Score |  Photo Gallery | Keith Cothran/Jimmy Baron postgame press conference

KINGSTON, R.I. - Junior guard Keith Cothran posted his second straight 20-point performance Tuesday night, which propelled the Rhode Island men's basketball team (4-1) to a 94-72 victory over Hartford at the Ryan Center.

Cothran led all URI scorers with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The URI guard fell just one point shy of setting a career-high for the third-consecutive game.

"I am shooting with a lot of confidence right now," Cothran said. "Last year I shot because I was open, now I know I am going to make shots."

The Rams are 10-0 when Cothran scores 15 points or more.

"Jimmy draws a lot of attention and that helps guys like me and Kahiem (Seawright) get open," Cothran said.

Senior guard Jimmy Baron scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. All six of Baron's field goals were from beyond the arc.

"Keith (Cothran) is the best slashing guard in the A-10," Baron said. "It is great to have Keith along side me because teams do not know who to guard. We are having better chemistry this year believe it or not."

Senior Kahiem Seawright, junior Lamonte Ulmer and junior Delroy James also scored in double figures, finishing with 11, 11 and 10 points, respectively. All 10 of James' points came in the second half.

In addition, James, Seawright and Ulmer finished with seven rebounds to lead the Rams.

Rhody's 22-point victory marked the second time this season URI has defeated its opponent by 20 points or more and the third-consecutive game in which it has scored 85-points or more.

"Keith (Cothran) is attacking the bucket and we need that from him right now," head coach Jim Baron said. "We wanted to start off with a quick attack and that is exactly what we did.'

URI took an early 5-2 lead, but Hartford responded with six straight points to take an 8-5 lead, but that would be the last time UH would hold the lead for the remainder of the game.

Baron tied the game at eight with a 3-pointer and Cothran followed with a jumper to give the Rams a 10-8 advantage with 15:09 remaining in the half.

The Rams would then clamp down defensively over the seven and a half minutes, holding Hartford to just three field goals during that stretch to take a 28-18 lead with 7:25 to go in the opening period.

Baron would then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Rams its largest of the first half at 34-18.

URI went into the locker room with a 47-35 lead. The Rams outshot the Hawks 55.9-46.2 percent and held a 19-15 rebounding advantage in the opening frame. Cothran and Baron both reached double-figures in scoring in the first half, tallying 15 and 12 points, respectively.

In the second half, James scored the Rams first five points to give the Rams a 53-40 lead with 18:08 remaining.

Eight minutes later, URI opened up a 20-point lead and never looked back.

The Rams return to action on Friday as they take on Penn State in Philadelphia, Pa., as part of the Philly Hoop Classic. Tipoff is schedule for 6:30 p.m.