THE BASICS
Rhode Island (17-8, 6-7 A-10) at Saint Louis (14-12, 7-6 A-10)
Tip-Off: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2:35 p.m. EST
Coverage: Watch: USA Network | Listen: Varsity Network | Live Stats | Game Notes

RHODE ISLAND VS. SAINT LOUIS - SERIES NOTES

• Rhode Island and Saint Louis are meeting for the 27th time.
• Each side has won 13 times in the series.
• While the overall series is even, Saint Louis has won the last six games between the teams.
• Last season, the Billikens won both meetings. Both three-point affairs in a span of just 11 days.
• Saint Louis won 94-91 in the Ryan Center on March 2 and then 74-71 in the opening round of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship on March 12. 
• Rhode Island is 6-7 as the road team against Saint Louis.
• The last time the Rams won at Chaifetz Arena was a 72-65 victory on Jan. 9, 2018. That season, the Rams won the regular-season A-10 title and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.
• Saint Louis is 11-3 at home this season, while Rhode Island is 1-6 in road games.

USA NETWORK TO AIR GAME NATIONALLY

• Steve Schlanger (play-by-play) and Dr. John Giannini (color analyst) will have the call on USA Network.
• Saturday's game is the second part of an Atlantic 10 doubleheader on USA Network.
• The first game is Richmond at Saint Joseph's, which tips off at 12:30 p.m.
• Rhode Island at Saint Louis will start at 2:35 p.m. regardless of whether the first game is complete. If Richmond-Saint Joseph's runs long, the Rhode Island-Saint Louis game will begin on the NBC Sports app and switch over to USA Network when the first game ends,

KEY MATCHUP WITH POSTSEASON SEEDING IMPLICATIONS

• Entering the weekend, Saint Louis and Rhode Island are separated by one game in the conference standings.
• Both teams are fighting for one of four double byes in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
• Saint Louis entered Friday tied for fifth place with Saint Joseph's, one game behind Dayton and Loyola Chicago. Dayton and Loyola Chicago met Friday night.
• Rhode Island is tied for sixth place with Duquesne, two games out of the double bye. The Rams will need a victory Saturday to maintain pace with whomever wins between Dayton and Loyola Chicago Friday.
• Of Rhody's remaining five conference games, three are against teams directly ahead of the Rams.

THOMAS SETS CAREER HIGH WITH 11 ASSISTS

• Point guard Sebastian Thomas tied the Ryan Center record with 11 assists in last week's win over La Salle.
• The mark tied the seventh most assists in a game in Rhode Island history.
• Thomas became the fifth URI player with 11 in one game, and the first since Dustin Hallenga had 11 against Richmond on Feb. 25, 2004.
• Tyson Wheeler holds Rhode Island's single-game record with 13 against Penn on Dec. 30, 1997.
• Thomas leads the Atlantic 10 in both total assists (138) and assists per game (6.0).
• He has 10 or more assists four times this season.
• Thomas needs 12 more to become the sixth URI player with 150 in a season.
• Wheeler did it three times (205 in 1997-98; 203 in 1995-996; and 169 in 1996-97).
• Jeff Dowtin (189 in 2017-18); Carlton "Silk" Owens (187 in 1987-88); Parfait Bitee (156 in 2007-08) and Herb Dixon (153 in 1988-89) are the others to reach 150 in a season.