What It Means:
Rhody faced off against #4/5 Arizona for a chance to head to Madison Square Garden for the championship of the 2013 NIT Season Tipoff.  The Rams fell to the Wildcats, 87-59, at the McKale Center on Tuesday night in a game televised nationally on ESPNU.  

The Rams will head home tonight and prepare for a Saturday game versus UMass Lowell before finishing up the final two games of the NIT Season Tipoff next week on Nov. 25-26.  Locations and opponents are yet to be determined.

Inside the Box Score and Beyond:
* Xavier Munford had his highest scoring output of the season - a game-high 22 points.  The 6-2 senior connected on 7-of-18 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the foul line.

* Biggie Minnis had his second straight game with a season-high in the scoring column.  He had nine points (3-5 FG; 2-4 FT) to go along with three assists in 21 minutes off the bench.

* Gilvydas Biruta played a career-high 34 minutes and had eight points and six boards.  The 6-8 junior added two steals, a blocked shot and an assist.

* T.J. Buchanan added seven points off the bench in 13 minutes of action.

* After a cold shooting half to start (7-28; 25.0%), Rhody connected on 13-of-26 in the second half - their third such half of play shooting 50.0% or better.

Quotable:
Head coach Dan Hurley:  "We were a lot grittier in the second half. We played smaller and we played tougher. If we were a little bit grittier in the first half you're talking about a game that could be 15, 18 to 20 instead of 25 to 30."

"They contest everything at the rim and their length extends out to the 3-point line. I imagine that's as close to playing an NBA team as far as their personnel. That's as good a college basketball team as I've ever seen in person."

What's Next:
After the trip back east, Rhode Island will host UMass Lowell on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.  The game will be aired live locally on OSN on Saturday and re-aired on SportsNet NewYork (SNY) on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.

The game will also be available on the University of Rhode Island Radio Network, powered by Beltone Hearing Aid Centers.  Steve McDonald and Don Kaull will provide the broadcast call live on NewsRadio 920 (920 AM).  The pre-game show starts at 1:30 p.m. ET.  This - and all Rhody games on radio - can be heard on the internet or your smartphone device through iheart.com or the iHeartRadio app.