Men's Basketball 1/29/2013 12:00:00 AM

Rhody Hosts Pivotal Wednesday Night Matchup Versus VCU

Watch Live: OSN (Cox ch. 5/1005 HD) - Eric Frede / Abu Bakr / Mike Mancuso

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Gamenotes: Rhode Island/VCU (pdf)

Buy Tickets: ExperienceRhody.com or visit the Ryan Center Box Office

Game Promotion: Flair Hair Giveaway (1st 1,000 students) - presented by Supercuts

RHODE ISLAND VERSUS VCU

Rhode Island and VCU face off for the first time as members of the Atlantic 10.
This is the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools, with the series tied at 2-2.
The Rams and Rams split a home-and-home series in 2008-09 and 2009-10, with each team winning on their respective home courts.
Rhody won the first matchup - 92-86 victory on Nov. 22, 2008 - before dropping an 82-80 decision in Richmond on Dec. 2, 2009.
The two squads also split a series in 1994-95 and 1995-96, again, with both teams winning at home.

RHODE ISLAND IN THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE

Since its inaugural season in the conference during the 1980-81 season, Rhode Island has posted a 233-284 all-time record in Atlantic 10 play.
The Rams earned their first conference win at Saint Louis on Jan. 19, 82-80 in overtime.
Last season, Rhody finished with a 4-12 mark in conference play, putting them in 13th place in the league standings.
On Jan. 18, 2012 - at Fordham - Rhode Island played its 500th Atlantic 10 game all-time.

RHODE ISLAND AT THE THOMAS M. RYAN CENTER

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Ryan Center - the home of URI men's and women's basketball.
URI holds a 105-58 regular season record in the Ryan Center since the arena opened for play on Nov. 26, 2002 with a 73-71 victory over USC.
Last season's victory over Hofstra on Nov. 25, 2011 was the 100th on the Ryan Center floor.
The Rams have won 11 or more home games on five occasions - including a program-record 15 in 2009-10.

LAST TIME OUT - FORDHAM 66, RHODE ISLAND 65 - JANUARY 26

Xavier Munford - the A-10's leading scorer - was held to just 10 points and 3-of-13 shooting from the floor in 27 minutes of play.
T.J. Buchanan tallied a season-high 10 points. His 3FG with 1:45 left in regulation gave Rhody its last lead of the game - at 63-62.
Mike Powell played all 40 minutes - the fourth time he has done that in a regulation game and the sixth time this season he played at least 40 minutes.
Andre Malone and Nikola Malesevic added 12 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the Rhody double-digit scorers.
Malesevic earned his fourth technical foul of the season with 10:52 left in the second half, with Rhody up 46-45.
Rhody was whistled for a season-high 27 fouls - including 20 in the second half alone.
Ryan Brooks grabbed seven rebounds in 24 minutes of play. It was his sixth game with six or more rebounds in a game.
Fordham outscored URI, 28-16, in the paint and were outrebounded on the offensive glass, 19-7

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

Today's Theme: How Rhode Island influenced VCU becoming the Rams (thanks to Fred Jeter providing the background for this story)
In 1946, Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) founded an intercollegiate men's basketball team and called themselves "The Green Devils."
Because of an affiliation with the College of William & Mary in colonial Williamsburg, their colors were green & gold.
In 1950, RPI hired its first full-time director of athletics and head basketball and baseball coach - Rhode Island native and URI alum Ed Allen.
Allen served as director of athletics from 1950-67, head basketball coach from 1950-68 and coach of the baseball team from 1950-75. His wife Edythe Johnson Allen, who served as an instructor of social work at RPI.
When RPI split from William & Mary in 1963, it adopted a new mascot. Influenced by his University of Rhode Island roots, Allen decided to call them the Rams.
RPI also changed its colors from the W&M-inspired green & gold to blue & gray.
In 1968, RPI and the Medical College of Virginia merged to form what is now known as VCU. The new university selected black and gold for its colors but kept the Rhody-inspired Ram as its mascot.
Allen retired from VCU in 1985 and was one of the first inductees into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

CLOSE CALLS

Since the start of conference play, Rhode Island has played five very close contests - an average scoring margin of just 2.6 points.
Rhody's four conference losses have come by a total of 15 points - an average of 3.8 points.
Three of the Rams' four A-10 losses have been by three points or less.
URI earned an 82-80 overtime victory at Saint Louis.
Through its first five A-10 contests last year, Rhody had lost by an average of close to 10.0 points per game.

T.J. TURNING IT UP

Sophomore T.J. Buchanan scored a season-high 10 points last time out at Fordham.
He was 2-of-4 from the floor - including 1-for-2 from beyond the arc - and 5-of-6 from the line.
His 3-pointer with1:45 left in the second half gave Rhody its final lead of the game - at 63-62.
Over his last four games, the reserve guard is averaging 6.5 pointsand shooting 53.8% from the floor.

MUNFORD SECOND IN THE ATLANTIC 10 IN SCORING

Junior guard Xavier Munford leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring, through games of Jan. 28.
The Hillside, N.J. native checks in at 17.4 points per game, which also ranks him 64th nationally.
He has registered eight of Rhody's top ten scoring performances this season, including a 33-point effort at Auburn.
He is fifth in scoring in Atlantic 10 games only, also checking in at 17.4 points per game.
Munford has posted eight games with 20 or more points - the most in the Atlantic 10 this season.
Only one Rhody player - Carlton "Silk" Owens - ever finished the season atop the conference's scoring leaders (21.8 ppg, 1987-88).