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University of Rhode Island

Men's Basketball

Rhode Island Heads West to Face Saint Mary's on Thursday Night

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RHODE ISLAND VS. SAINT MARY'S - ALL-TIME SERIES

  • Rhode Island holds a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools.
  • The Rams won the lone previous meeting between the two schools - an 81-74 decision in Moraga on Jan. 2, 1996.  

RHODE ISLAND VS. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE

  • Rhode Island is 9-5 against teams that currently make up the West Coast Conference membership in basketball.
  • The Rams most common WCC opponent is San Francisco; URI holds a 5-1 edge in the all-time series against the Dons.
  • In addition to Saint Mary's and USF, URI has also faced BYU (2-1), Gonzaga (1-0), Pepperdine (0-2), and Santa Clara (0-1).
  • It marks the first WCC opponent for Rhode Island since the 1999-2000 season (vs. Santa Clara at the Big Island Invitational).
  • Head coach Dan Hurley is 1-0 against WCC opponents, as his 2011-12 Wagner team won the Cable Car Classic championship, 64-62, over Santa Clara on Dec. 30, 2011.  

RHODE ISLAND IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

  • Since joining the Eastern 8 in the 1980-81 season, URI has posted a 251-205 mark in non-conference play.
  • Dating back to the 2006-07 season, the Rams have posted a 68-43 record versus out-of-conference opponents.

LAST TIME OUT - RHODE ISLAND 65, GEORGIA STATE 60 - DECEMBER 22

  • Nikola Malesevic led Rhode Island with 22 points and nine rebounds. He added two assists and a key blocked shot with 28 seconds left in the game.
  • Xavier Munford scored all 17 of his points in the second half - including 12 straight points for the Rams during a key run.
  • Point guard Mike Powell added nine points- seven in the second half - to go along with three rebounds and two assists in a season-low 32 minutes of play.
  • All eight players who saw action for Rhode Island played at least 12 minutes. Malesevic logged 36 minutes to lead the team.
  • As a team, the Rams shot 40 percent from the perimeter, making 8-of-20 on 3-point shots.
  • Rhode Island forced just six turnovers and did not record a steal for the first time this season.
  • For the third time this season, Rhody's defense held its opponent to less than 40 percent on its field goal attempts.

TODAY'S RHODE ISLAND BASKETBALL FACT(S) YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

  • Today's Theme:  Rhode Island and the Golden State
  • The Rams are 13-12 all-time against schools located in the state of California.  
  • URI's last California-based opponent was USC in a double-OT win over the Trojans on Nov. 26, 2002 - the Ryan Center opener.
  • In games played in the state of California, Rhody has compiled an 8-10 overall record.  
  • The last time the Rams played in California was Dec. 4, 2001 in the the front-end of the home-and-home series with USC.
  • Rhody's first-ever trip to California for a game came on Dec. 30, 1967 when it lost 82-76 at UCSB.
  • San Francisco is Rhode Island's most common California opponent, having faced the Dons on six occasions.  The next most common opponent is Stanford and there is no need to bring up details from that game.
  • The last native Californian to suit up for Rhode Island was Josh King.  The Carmichael, Calif. native played three seasons for the Rams (1995-98) after transferring from Cal State Fullerton.

RAMS FACING ONE OF THE TOUGHEST NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULES IN THE COUNTRY

  • Rhode Island is close to finishing out a difficult and challenging non-conference schedule in 2012-13.  
  • Through games of Dec. 25, the combined record of URI opponents is 70-33 and URI's strength of schedule is 17.
  • The 2011-12 win-loss record of Rhode Island's non-conference slate was: 290-182 (.614).
  • Nine of the Rams 13 OOC opponents won 21 or more games and eight played in the postseason in 2011-12.
  • Three teams - Norfolk State, Loyola (Md.), and Vermont - won their conference tournaments in 2012.
  • Ohio State advanced to the 2012 NCAA Final Four and was one point away from playing in the national championship game.

SECOND HALF SCORING

  • Xavier Munford has done the bulk of his scoring in the second half of the last two games for Rhode Island.
  • Last time out against Georgia State, Munford poured in 17 points in the second half - including 12 straight for the Rams during a 2:40 span.
  • He also tallied 11 points against SMU (Dec. 15) and six of his 10 points at Providence (Dec. 6) in the second half.

FROM THE STANDPOINT OF EFFICIENCY

  • Sophomore guard Mike Powell put forth one of the most efficient performances of the season against SMU on Dec. 15.
  • Powell scored 18 points on just five field goal attempts; he knocked down 4-5 from the floor, including 3-3 from beyond the arc and all seven free throw attempts.
  • He dished out four assists and registered a career-high six steals in 35 minutes of play.

'TIS THE SEASON FOR SHARING

  • Rhody registered a season-high 17 assists against SMU on Dec. 15.
  • Nikola Malesevic and Xavier Munford led the way with five assists each - both season-highs - while Mike Powell added four assists.
  • The Rams posted an assist percentage of 68.0% (17 assists/25 field goals) - the highest since March 16, 2011, when Rhody dished out 20 assists to 27 field goals made against Miami (Ohio).

MUNFORD RANKS THIRD IN ATLANTIC 10 IN SCORING

  • Junior guard Xavier Munford ranks third in scoring in the Atlantic 10 (through games of Dec. 25).
  • The Hillside, N.J. native checks in at 17.2 points per game, which also ranks him among the top 100 players nationally.
  • He has registered four of Rhody's top five scoring performances this season, including a 33-point effort at Auburn.

DUNK YOU VERY MUCH

  • Over the last three games, Jordan Hare has been playing above the rim - dunking nine of his last 10 made field goals.
  • Against SMU on Dec. 15, each of Hare's four field goals were dunks.
  • He had five dunks en route to a career-best 14 points at Providence on Dec. 6.
  • The 6-10 newcomer leads the Rams in dunks this season, with 14.

TURN AROUND ON TURNOVER COUNT

  • Through their first 11 games, the Rams are averaging just 11.6 turnovers per contest - tied for 34th nationally.
  • A season ago, Rhode Island averaged 14.5 turnovers per game, which ranked 247th nationally.
  • The Rams registered a season-low six turnovers against George Mason on Nov. 28.
  • That was the lowest TO mark since Rhody committed a program record-low two turns against Nevada (March 22, 2010).
  • Last season, Rhode Island had just eight games with 11 or fewer turnovers.

IMPROVED DEFENSIVE EFFORT IN 2012-13

  • A major point of emphasis for head coach Dan Hurley is improving Rhody's defensive effort from last season.
  • Last season, Rhody was one of the worst defensive teams in the country, ranking 321st out of 339 in scoring defense (75.5 points/game) and 324th in FG% defense (47.5%).
  • In 2012-13, the Rams are allowing 12.0 fewer points per game and have lowered their defensive FG% to 41.2%.
  • Through 11 games this season, Rhode Island has allowed a season-high 72 points just twice.
  • Last year, Rhody gave up 70 or more points 23 times in 31 games and allowed its opponents to score 80+ points 11 times, 90+ three times, and 100 once.
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