An In-Depth Look at The Numbers: URI vs. Dayton
The biggest game on URI’s Atlantic 10 schedule is finally here. This will be the game of the night on ESPN2 as the Rhode Island Rams look to take care of business in their 32nd game all-time against the Dayton Flyers; in what could be an instant classic. The Rams come into the match-up playing hot, riding a 4-game win streak and taking 6 of their last 7. A win today would welcome them to the 9-win club in conference play and put them half a game out of first behind a "lucky" VCU squad.
Dayton (18-5, 9-2) matches up quite well with URI (16-7, 8-3). The Flyers come in riding a 3-game win streak, however against unimpressive teams; these being Fordham, Duquesne, and Saint Joes. In fact, the last top 100 RPI squad the Flyers beat was our URI Rams over 1 month ago, on January 6th.
The Rams come into this one as hot as they've been this year, winning their last 4 by an average of 10.75 points and the last two on the road. Now let’s look at the numbers.
The Flyers run an extremely efficient offense with just over 60% of their field goals coming off assists. They come in averaging 75.4 points and 15.6 assists per game with a 53.9% effective field goal percentage. They come in with an average scoring margin of 11.5 points per game, good for a top 25 highest margin in the country. Charles Cooke is the man for this team, leading the Flyers in minutes per game (31.15), points per game (16.7), and rebounds (5.1).
In comes the RHODE BLOCK. Danny Hurley's Rams come in as a top defense of the league (what's new?). Led by the block machine, Hassan Martin (2.94 Blk/game, #6 in NCAA), the Rams are averaging 6.13 blocks per game, good for #5 in the country. The Rams are blocking an astounding 11.5% of opponents’ shots, the second highest block % in all of college basketball. Rhode Island also boasts a top 3-point defense in all of college basketball. The Rams are letting opponents shoot only 16.0 three point attempts per game (#10) and make only 4.9 (#4) of them for a 30.6% average (#13)! It doesn't stop here however, the Rams only let an average of 22.0 baskets from their opponents, good for the 17th lowest rate in the country. The Rams opponents are also averaging a .766 assist to turnover rate, good for #19, with only 10.7 assists per game for #15 in all the land.
Defense wins games and that's what they do best down in Kingston. Pair that with a Rocking Ryan Center and it's going to be a fun night on the hardwood.
Edited by: AP
