Rhode Island Starters
Russell, Sheppard, Walker, Betrand, Makhel Mitchell
 
VCU Starters
Baldwin, Jr., Hyland, Williams, Douglas, Stockard, III
 
How it Happened
Rhode Island (6-6, 3-2 Atlantic 10) continued its recent success against VCU, using a big second-half surge to pick up an 83-68 road victory Saturday.

It was back-and-forth action in the opening half, which featured eight lead changes. The biggest lead for either side was five points by VCU (9-3, 2-1 A-10), twice. It led 30-25 following a Jamir Watkins 3-pointer, but Antwan Walker followed with a trey of his own. The teams traded baskets before Malik Martin was fouled while making a layup. He added the free throw to pull URI within one point.

An Allen Betrand 3-pointer gave Rhode Island a 36-34 lead before VCU tied the game with a pair of free throws. Rhody took the lead twice more in the final minute, first on a Martin baseline runner and again on a pair of Fatts Russell free throws. VCU responded each time, knotting the score at the break when Watkins hit a jumper at the buzzer to make the score 40-40.

Rhode Island opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take its biggest lead of the day, 48-42. Betrand and Jeremy Sheppard each converted hoop-and-harm drives to the basket, and Russell hit a pair of free throws in the spurt. VCU's Bones Hyland hit back-to-back deep 3-point shots and then a pair of free throws to put VCU back in front, 50-48. Hyland had the first 10 points of the half for the hosts.

Intense defense from Rhode Island began to take over. Rhody held VCU without a field goal for more than six minutes from 13:20 until 6:57 remained. During that stretch, the Rams outscored VCU 17-3 to open a 71-56 lead.

From there, Rhode Island coasted, winning for the ninth time in 10 meetings between the schools.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island had its best shooting performance from the perimeter, hitting 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the arc. Rhody was 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the first half.
• Senior Jeremy Sheppard had career highs with 20 points and eight rebounds.
• Senior Fatts Russell added 23 points and a career-high nine rebounds. He was 13-of-14 at the free throw line, his third game this season with 10 or more made free throws.
• The last time URI had two players with 20 or more points in the same game was Jeff Dowtin (24) and Russell (20) in a win over Manhattan on Nov. 27, 2019.
• Russell has 23 rebounds over his last three games.
• Junior Allen Betrand made his first start with Rhode Island and provided a spark, scoring 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
• He is the 10th different Rhode Island player to score in double figures this season.  
• Freshman Ishmael Leggett scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds despite being limited to 11 minutes due to foul trouble.
• Junior Malik Martin had five points, three rebounds and two steals while posting a plus-minus of +8 in 28 minutes.
• While Rhode Island had 19 turnovers, it also forced VCU into 16 miscues. Rhody enjoyed a 21-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Head coach David Cox improved to 5-1 against VCU in his career.

Up Next
Rhode Island plays its third straight league road game when it travels to Massachusetts on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Game time is 7 p.m. on NESN.