Rhode Island Starters
Cochran, Corey, Crawford, Hinton, Itejere
 
Brown Starters
Dabo, Jenkins, Langham, Lewis, Paragon
 
How it Happened
Rhode Island (7-2) overcame a slow offensive first half with a strong second half defensive performance to beat Brown 66-56 at the Ryan Center on Tuesday night.

The Rams held Brown (3-6) to 31 percent from the field. That is the lowest shooting performance for an opponent against Rhode Island this season. Brown shot 26 percent in the second half against the Rams defense.

Rhode Island found its offensive rhythm late in the first half. Trailing 23-18 with 4:42 reminding in the opening frame, Jahmere Tripp hit a layup through traffic and a Brown foul. On the next possession, Tripp buried a three-pointer that gave Rhody the 24-23 lead.
 
A jumper from Keeyan Itejere with less than four minutes left in the second half gave Rhode Island its largest lead of the night at 13 points. While Brown never went away, Rhody maintained its lead. Itejere added a dunk and free throw in the final minute of the game to help Rhode Island to the 10-point victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island held Brown to 19 percent (3-of-16) from three; the lowest three-point percentage for an opponent this season. 
• Tyler Cochran and Jahmere Tripp shared the game-high with 17 points.
• Cochran notched his first double-double of his Rhode Island career. He had 10 rebounds and two steals.
• Tripp's 17 points came on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds and two steals.
• Keeyan Itejere finished with 11 points, all of which came in the second half. He shot 5-of-5 from the field.
• Itejere's five blocks is a season high and tied his career high.
• Jonah Hinton had eight points for the Rams with a rebound and two assists.
• Alex Crawford had seven points and eight rebounds. 

Up Next
Rhode Island heads to Providence for its annual match up with Providence College. The game tips off at 12 p.m. at Amica Mutual Pavillion and will air on TruTV.