URI Rams Crush Southern Miss, Friars Up Next!

The URI Rams (5-2) will face the PC Friars (6-2) for the 125th time Wednesday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

The URI Rams snapped Southern Mississippi's 38-game non-conference and 19 game overall home win streaks and earned its first true road victory of the season, cruising to a 75-43 victory in Hattiesburg.

The Rams never trailed on the night, jumping out to a 10 point lead with 8:30 to play in the first half (20-10), forcing a Southern Miss 30-second timeout.  But Rhody kept pushing and closed the half on a 15-7 push, taking a 35-17 lead at the break.

Southern Miss got as close as 12 points (39-27) with 16:29 left in regulation, but the Rams went a 14-4 run, pushing it back to a 22-point edge (53-31, 10:57).  URI extended it to a 32-point edge late in the contest on a Matthew Butler 3-pointer.

Inside the Box Score and Beyond

• Hassan Martin led the Ram scorers with 13 points.  The sophomore connected on 6-of-7 from the floor, while grabbing three rebounds, notching two steals and blocking a shot in 19 minutes.
  
• Jared Terrell was the other Ram in double figures, with 12 points (5-10 FG; 1-2 3FG), two boards, two steals and an assist.
  
• The Rams' bench scored a season-high 33 points, paced by 27 from Earl Watson, T.J. Buchanan and Jarvis Garrett.  Each player had nine points apiece.
  
• Watson added six rebounds in 14 minutes of action.  Garrett tallied two rebounds, an assist and a steal in 18 minutes.  Buchanan recorded out four assists in 24 minutes.
  
• E.C. Matthews dished out a team-high five assists (one turnover) in 30 minutes.  Biggie Minnis notched a team and career-high four steals.
  
• For the game, URI shot 55.8% from the floor (29-52) including 7-of-16 from the perimeter (43.8%).  It was the second-highest FG% mark of the season (63.8% vs. UMass Lowell).
  
• The Rams dished out a season-high 19 assists and committed a season-low 10 turnovers.
  
• Rhody's defense forced 23 Southern Miss turnovers, translating to 22 points.
  

Stat of the Game

36 - Rhode Island scored 36 of its 75 points in the paint.  In the first half, 22 of the Rams' 35 points came from the post.    

What's Next

The Rams head to the Dunkin Donuts Center to take on Providence in the 125th meeting all-time between the Rams and Friars.  Tipoff time is at 7 p.m. at the game can be seen live locally on OSN (Cox ch. 5/1005 HD).

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