Rhode Island Preview
March 18, 2004 09:08 PM | General
March 18, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia coach John Beilein believes his team is going to have its hands full playing a confident Rhode Island team Friday night at the WVU Coliseum.
A close examination of Rhode Island’s results this season backs that up. Rhody opened the season with a 12-point win over a Northeastern team that defeated West Virginia in Morgantown.
URI also bagged a 10-point victory over Big East powerhouse Providence, which manhandled West Virginia by 21 in Providence back on Jan. 17.
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| West Virginia coach John Beilein disputes a call during Wednesday night's game at Kent State. (AP photo) |
“You look at them and you see that they beat Providence and that means they’re a pretty darn good team but each week in March now all of the good teams are left,” said Beilein.
Rhode Island (20-13) beat Miami 54-53 and lost by just four in the Carrier Dome to Syracuse in November. A six-point win over NCAA tournament participant Charlotte, a four-point road triumph at Dayton and a near victory against then-No. 2-ranked St. Joseph’s are also eye catching.
But it was Rhode Island’s latest effort against a very good Boston University team that carries the most weight with West Virginia coaches.
“They really play tough, hard-nosed defense,” said Beilein.
The Rams completely dominated the Terriers from the start, hitting 7 of 11 threes in building a 20-point halftime lead. Rhode Island had no trouble beating BU 80-52. Boston University came into the NIT with a 25-3 record that included a victory at Michigan.
The success Rhode Island has enjoyed this year under third-year Coach Jim Barron should really come as no surprise. Astute West Virginia basketball fans recall Barron turning around a struggling St. Bonaventure program when both teams were in the Atlantic 10.
Barron took St. Bonaventure to the NIT in just his third season in Olean and also produced NIT berths in 1998 and 2001. His best team at St. Bonaventure came in 2000 when he led the Bonnies to the NCAA tournament where they lost in double overtime to Kentucky.
Last year Barron steered Rhody back to postseason play with a 20-11 record that was good enough to earn him Atlantic 10 coach of the year honors and qualify URI for the NIT.
“Jim’s teams are very similar to the type of player he was at St. Bonaventure … a team that won the NIT,” said Beilein. “He was a hard-nosed, tough kid from New York City and that’s how they play. You’re in a battle when you play one of Jim’s teams.”
This year, Rhode Island has won six of its last eight games; one of the two games it lost down the stretch against George Washington in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament came without standout point guard Dawan Robinson, who was only able to play four minutes due to a badly bruised back.
Robinson returned to form Wednesday night against Boston University, scoring 12 points in a leisurely 22 minutes of action. The 6-foot-2 junior from Philadelphia leads URI in scoring with an average of 15.5 points per game. He also leads the Rams in three-point field goal percentage at 40.9 and his 56 threes rank second on the team to 6-foot-5 junior guard Dustin Hellenga’s 61. Hellenga, who comes off the bench, averages 11 points per game and is joined in the double-figure scoring column by 6-foot-3 guard Brian Woodward who averages 13.1 points per game.
Against BU on Wednesday, Rhode Island used a starting lineup consisting of Robinson and Woodward in the backcourt, with 6-foot-6 Terrance Mack and 6-foot-5 Jamaal Wise at forwards and 6-foot-10 Jon Clark at center.
Wise averages 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds, Mack averages 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds and Clark averages 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Beilein faced Rhode Island once while he was coaching at Richmond in the Atlantic 10.
“We won that game but it was Jim’s first year there and he had inherited a situation that was probably comparable to the West Virginia situation,” said Beilein.
The West Virginia coach also faced Jim Barron-coached teams when he was at St. Bonaventure and Beilein was at Canisius.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers (16-13) overcame an early eight-point deficit Wednesday night to defeat Kent State 65-54 in Kent, Ohio, and advance to the second round.
Tyrone Sally came up big with a 17-point, 9-rebound effort to pace the Mountaineers. Patrick Beilein scored 14 coming off the bench and D’or Fischer made 8 of 8 from the free throw line to finish with 12.
Sally’s 17 points Wednesday lifted his scoring average to an even 10 points per game. Fischer continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring with a 10.6-points-per-game average while forward Kevin Pittsnogle averages 10.2 points per game.
Beilein has made a team-best 63 three-point baskets and is averaging 9 points per game. Guard Joe Herber scored all 8 of his points in the second half and shows and average of 8.2 points per game.
Mountaineer starting point guard J.D. Collins turned his ankle late in the second half and spent the remaining 2:28 on the bench with ice on his foot. Backup point guard Tyler Relph also came out of the game with an ankle problem.
“We went through a very light workout today and both of them were able to practice although neither of them were 100 percent,” said Beilein. “We think both of them are going to be able to play … what level they’re able to play at we’ll find out tomorrow.”
If it came to it Beilein said Herber could play point guard.
The Mountaineers’ victory at Kent State Wednesday was its first post-season win since defeating No. 9-rated Cincinnati in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 1998. It was also just the third time West Virginia has won a road game in the NIT; WVU won at Minnesota in 1981 and at N.C. State in 1997.
The Mountaineer Ticket Office is open 9 am Friday and will be accepting ticket orders all day. Fans can order in advance by calling 1-800-WVU GAME; ticket orders will also be accepted at the gate Friday night.
Tickets are priced at $19 for lower level and $10 for upper level. Tickets for WVU students are priced at $4. The first 500 WVU students will receive free admission, courtesy of Coca-Cola. Children under 18 can purchase tickets at the gate only on game day for $4.
Season ticket holders have until 10 a.m. on Friday morning to purchase their reserved seat from the season.
“We were away from the Coliseum a lot so it’s nice to know we’re coming back to the Coliseum,” said Beilein of getting a second-round home game.
Notebook: West Virginia plays host to its first NIT game since 1997 when Florida State defeated the Mountaineers 76-71 to advance to the NIT Final Four in New York City … Rhode Island won its 20th game of the season Wednesday against Boston University to make it the 10th straight year URI has either won 20 or lost 20 in a season … Rhode Island finished the year 5-5 against teams in the NCAA tournament field but only 1-4 against the NIT field … Ironically, Rhode Island’s one win against an NIT team came by 11 at Kent State – the same margin of victory for West Virginia Wednesday night … West Virginia and Rhode Island have played 31 times, mostly when the Mountaineers were members of the Atlantic 10 conference … the last time these two met in 1995, West Virginia claimed a 76-72 victory in Morgantown … the Mountaineers hold a 19-12 advantage in series play … the winner of the West Virginia-Rhode Island game will play at Rutgers in an NIT second round game … because there are 40 teams in the NIT field this year, the Mountaineers must win four straight games to reach the tournament Final Four in Madison Square Garden.
