THE BASICS
Providence (5-3) at Rhode Island (2-5)
Tip-Off: Saturday, Dec. 3, 5:05 p.m. EST
Coverage: ESPNU | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes

RHODE ISLAND VS. PROVIDENCE - SERIES NOTES

• Saturday's game will be the 134th meeting between Rhode Island and Providence. The Friars lead, 75-58.
• It is the fourth most games URI has played against any opponent, behind only Brown (163), Massachusetts (160) and Connecticut (143).
• The home team has won each of the last five meetings.
• Rhode Island is 6-3 at home against the Friars since the opening of the Ryan Center.
• Last season, Providence won 66-52 behind 13 points and 15 rebounds by Ed Croswell.
• While the rivalry has a long history, only three URI players - Malik Martin, Ishmael Leggett and Sebastian Thomas - have played against the Friars.

URI LEGENDS DON KAULL, JIMMY WRIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED BEFORE THE GAME

• Former Rhode Island players Don Kaull and Jimmy Wright will be remembered with a moment of silence before the opening tip Saturday. Both men passed away within the last week.
• Kaull - a URI Hall of Famer - was a team captain and all-conference selection during his career from 1964-67, helping lead the Rams to the 1966 NCAA championship field.
• Kaull later spent 35 years as the color analyst for men's basketball radio broadcasts, working with both Jim Norman and Steve McDonald.
• Wright was a first team all-conference pick in 1981. From 1977-81, he scored 1,333 and had 773 rebounds.

MILLER, COOLEY HAVE ROOTS BACK TO TEAM USA

• Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller and Providence head coach Ed Cooley spent time together as assistant assistant coaches with the 2015 Team USA U-19 team.
• The two were assistants for head coach Sean Miller at the FIBA World Championship in Greece.
• Also part of the staff was current URI assistant coach Austin Carroll.
• Team USA won the gold medal with a team that included Jalen Brunson, Josh Jackson and Jayson Tatum, among several other future professionals.
• USA went 7-0 en route to the gold medal, defeating Croatia 79-71 in the championship game.
• Archie Miller and Cooley have faced each other two times previously. Miller's 11th-seeded Dayton squad knocked No. 5 seed Providence out of the 2015 NCAA tournament.
• While at Indiana in 2020, Miller's team defeated Cooley's Friars at the Maui Invitational, 79-58.