THE BASICS
Rhode Island (7-2) at Providence (5-4)
Tip-Off: Saturday, Dec. 6, 12:00 p.m.
Coverage: Watch: TruTV | Listen: Varsity Network | Live Stats | Game Notes

RHODE ISLAND VS. PROVIDENCE - SERIES NOTES

• Saturday's game between Rhode and Island and Providence will be the 137th meeting in a series that began 105 years ago in 1920.
• There are two separate series records: Providence records have the series at 77-57 in favor of the Friars, while Rhode Island records have the series at 77-59. 
• The Friars do not count the first two meetings, referring to meetings in 1920 and 1921 as exhibition games.
• The games in 1920 and 1921, the first two seasons that Basketball Hall of Fame coach Frank Keaney was at the helm for the Rams.
• The official NCAA records count those games as wins for Keaney and Rhode Island.  
• Last year, the Rams snapped a four-game losing streak against Providence and are looking to win a road game in the series for the first time since a 73-71 win on Dec. 7, 2002, which was Jim Baron's second season as the Rhode Island coach.
• The Rams are looking to improve to 8-2 with their fourth straight victory.
• The Friars are 5-4 on the season and are looking for consecutive wins for the second time this year. The first was wins over New Hampshire and Penn State on Nov. 18 and Nov. 22. 
• Providence's Jason Edwards leads the team with 19.2 points per game. He is second on the team in both assists (30) and steals (12). 

TRIPP HAS BEEN A SUPER SUB FOR THE RAMS

• Wing Jahmere Tripp has averaged 12.1 points per game coming off the bench for Rhode Island.
• The Fordham transfer is coming off a season-high 17-point performance in URI's victory over Brown on Tuesday night.
• He and fellow wing Tyler Cochran each had 17 in the win, Rhody's sixth in seven games.
• In Tripp, Cochran and guard Jonah Hinton, Rhode Island has three of the top 25 scorers in the Atlantic 10.
• Hinton (15.8 points/game) is eighth in the league through Wednesday's games, while Cochran (14.9) and Tripp (12.1) rank 12th and 25th, respectively. 
• Tripp has scored in double digits in eight of his first nine games as a Ram. In two seasons at Fordham, he had 12 double-digit scoring games in 61 appearances.
• Tripp has shot better from 3-point range (.480, 12-of-25) than he has from inside the arc (.453, 24-of-53).
• Tripp is averaging 12.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, up from 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds last year.
• His older brother Jahlil - was a 1,200-point scorer and the 2020 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year while at Pacific.

ITEJERE EFFICIENT AROUND THE BASKET

• Forward Keeyan Itejere has been very efficient from the field thus far, shooting .857 from the floor.
• Through nine games, he is 30-for-35 on field goals after making all five of his attempts in Tuesday's win over Brown.
• A career .579 free throw shooter, Itejere is 12-for-17 at the line to start the season, good for a .709 percentage.
• The Western Kentucky transfer has been a pogo stick in the middle on offense, with 16 of his 30 field goals so far coming via the dunk.
• Over his last two games, Itejere has blocked nine shots, getting four against Temple and then a season-high five against Brown.