URI's Luck in the 2016-2017 Regular Season
In direct correlation with my 10th key of how URI can win it all in Pittsburgh, PA (10 factors are written about in a previously published article titled "An Attendee's Keys to a URI Run Through Pittsburgh and Beyond"), this is a list that I have compiled for the handful of ways in which Rhode Island basketball had a lucky 2016-2017 campaign:
1. At the HOF tip-off tournament games at Mohegan Sun, they did not play 2 true neutral-court games. The home crowd helped to will them to a HUGE win over Cincinnati despite a 12-point deficit that they looked like they had no chance of coming back from. This particular win over the Bearcats single-handedly carried URI's NCAA tournament resume for the majority of the regular season. Overall, URI's single win over Cincy on this "neutral court" was their best win of the season. Seeing as teams are given more credit for neutral and road victories, Rhode Island is fortunate that Mohegan Sun is only a 40-minute drive away from Kingston, RI. Then, the Rhody faithful was in full force for Duke's victory over URI, 75-65, but URI could have pulled the upset with a better shooting day.
2. On January 16, 2017, URI had a huge crowd on hand at the Ryan Center for their rivalry game vs. UMASS. Despite holding a 10-point lead going into the final minute of game time, the Rams could not hit free throws down the stretch and the Minutemen stormed almost all the way back. The only thing that secured URI's incredibly close 79-77 victory was the clock hitting 00.0.
3. On February 18, 2017, URI had an 18-point lead at George Mason and almost managed to choke the entire game away. It took a career-high of 21 points for Stanford Robinson and a relatively simple missed shot by Jalen Jenkins that would have given the Patriots the win.
4. In URI's second-best regular season victory of the season, URI beat VCU 69-59 at home on February 25, 2017. While the Rams in Keaney blue played a strong game, they had critical free throws bounce in down the stretch. Also, despite the solid defensive job they did, Rhode Island was fortunate that VCU went a horrendous 1-15 from beyond the arc, including wide open 3-point jumpers.
5. On a senior night, in a game where URI had an 11.9 percent chance of winning against Davidson down 59-52 with 4:13 left in regulation, the Rams won. At the end of the game, unlike in the past 3 years, Peyton Aldridge luckily missed a key and wide open 3-pointer on the right baseline (closest to the student section), which would have given Davidson the upset victory.
While this appears to take away from what the Rams accomplished in this season, I am just pointing out something that all teams need to be successful in any sport, luck.
For my mature audience out there, good thing the Rhode Island faithful did not have to do this:
