Rhode Island Starters
Cochran, Corey, Crawford, Hinton, Itejere

La Salle Starters
Brewer Jr., Dockery, Harris, Johnson, Marshall

How it Happened
Rhode Island's offense struggled in the second half as the Rams fell to La Salle 79-72 at the Ryan Center on Wednesday night. 

The Rams (9-7, 0-3 Atlantic 10) turned the ball over 10 times and shot 30 percent (9-of-30) in the second half. The Explorers (5-11, 1-2 Atlantic 10) had their best shooting performance of the season, hitting 61 percent from the field and 54 percent from three. La Salle had not shot better than 44 percent from the field in its last five games.

A Jonah Hinton steal led to a transition alley-oop from Tyler Cochran to Myles Corey and gave Rhode Island an 8-0 advantage in the opening two minutes of the game, forcing a La Salle timeout.

La Salle overcame its slow start to the game. The Rams and Explorers were knotted at 41 heading into halftime. In the opening eight minutes of the second half, Rhode Island gave the ball away six times helping La Salle jump out to a 55-47 lead.

A Hinton three with 9:26 left in the second brought Rhode Island within eight. Then a Cochran steal led to a three-point play that helped the Rams get back within two possessions at 59-54 with nine minutes remaining in the second half. The Explorers responded with a 6-0 run to distance themselves from Rhode Island and leave Kingston with a win.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island had 16 assists on 24 made shots, the team's third highest assist total of the season.
• The Rams snagged 16 offensive rebounds, the second highest mark the team has reached this season.
• Jonah Hinton led all Rhode Island scorers with 18 points, and added three rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
• Myles Corey tallied 12 points, four assists, two steals, and one rebound.
• Tyler Cochran put up nine points, added five rebounds, three assists, and led the Rams with three steals.
• Jahmere Tripp had nine points, three assists, two rebounds, and one steal.
• Keeyan Itejere led Rhode Island on the defensive end with three blocks and totaled six points and six rebounds.
• Alex Crawford tacked on six points, five rebounds, and one steal.
• Drissa Traore had five points, two rebounds, and one assist.

Up Next
Rhode Island heads to Davidson for a road match up with the Wildcats. Game time is 2 p.m. and nationally televised on USA Network and the Varsity Network.