Last season, it took Rhode Island 30 games to reach 12 wins; this season just 14. After falling to Duquesne (6-9) in the Atlantic 10 opener, Rhode Island (12-2) bounced back with a 62-59 victory against George Mason (10-5).
Fans will remember the game for fourth-year Sebastain Thomas nailing his third game-winner of the season. George Mason tied the game at 59-all with just 11 seconds to go. Rhode Island responded by opting not to call a timeout and watched as Thomas had to go to his right and sank a jaw-dropping fadeaway from behind the baseline and over the top of third-year Patriot Brayden O’Connor. The shot dropped with just 0.9 seconds remaining, and the Patriots’ full-court heave was unsuccessful.
Twenty-one seconds before the Thomas game-winner, the Rams went ahead after an unlikely hero nailed a heavily contested jumper from the left elbow. Fourth-year Quentin Diboundje, who hadn’t played since before Thanksgiving, played nine meaningful minutes off the bench.
Diboundje finished with four points and two rebounds and had the best plus-minus of any player off the bench. Many expected Diboundje to be a strong rotational piece this season. However, none of that had come to fruition due to some injuries and internal improvements from other Rams. After his best performance as a Ram, head coach Archie Miller made it clear that he wants to consistently make Diboundje a part of the rotation.
“It’s been a 50-50 toss-up for a long time about how we incorporate him, and he’s going to be incorporated from here on out,” Miller said. “He’s a bigger body for us, the athleticism is there, and anyone around our program knows he deserves an opportunity right now.”
Outside of Diboundje, the first half was a nightmare for the Rams. There was an unwatchable 10-minute scoreless stretch. They allowed a 19-4 run and shot an unthinkable 6 of 25 on layups.
Yet, Rhode Island made the right halftime adjustments and outscored the Patriots 37-25 in the second half. Thomas led the way for the Rams with 11 second-half points to finish with 22. Fifth-year center Javonte Brown continued to dominate in the paint. Brown finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and a career-high six blocks.
However, the other starters for the Rams struggled to do much of anything. They shot 3 of 21 from the field, including 1 of 9 from deep. They also just had four rebounds and four assists in a combined 73 minutes. So, Miller and his staff turned to his bench, where fourth-year Jaden House gave the team a needed boost despite not hitting a single shot from the field.
“I don’t care if you [House] score, but they definitely need to see you engaged,” Miller said. “He changed the course of the game when we were able to put him on Brayden [O’Connor] because we didn’t really have an answer for his physicality.”
House finished the game with six points, all from the line. It was the most points House scored since his 18 points against Providence nearly a month ago. House isn’t alone in this offensive slump. Miller expressed that his team has struggled against the different defenses they’ve faced lately, and while a team is more than just its offense, this dip in production has affected the team more than one might think.
“Our offense here is starting conference play and I’ll put it on me. We have to do a much better job adjusting to coverages throughout the course of the game,” Miller said. “We are struggling offensively and it’s affecting our mindset.”
The Rams entered conference play with the best offense in the A10, scoring 85 points per game. In their two A10 games, that number is down to 58.5, the worst in the A10 by six points, the same distance between the second-worst offense and the second-best. While it’s important to remember that they have played two good defenses, that doesn’t mean this slow offensive start isn’t cause for concern. The Rams seem to struggle against new looks or an in-game changes in defense. It’s part of the reason Miller didn’t take any timeouts in the late-game situations.
“One thing about George Mason is when you call timeout, they change defenses, so in some cases for your players, the defense that you see coming down the floor is the one that you can control for them the most,” Miller said. “If you call timeout against Mason, you may have to prepare them for a matchup, you may have to prepare them for a 1-3-1, or you may have to prepare them for a set play and at the end of the day the possession breaks down anyway because you don’t know what’s going on.”
George Mason’s defense has become their identity, and the numbers back it up. The Patriots feature the best defense in the A10 regarding field goal percentage allowed (35.6) and 3-point field goal percentage allowed (28.8). In the previous game, the Patriots held Davidson (11-4) to their lowest point total of the season in a 69-57 George Mason victory. During their non-conference schedule, the Patriots held national powerhouses Duke and Marquette below 40% from the field.
Now with a 1-1 record in the A10, the Rams sit at fourth in the conference standings and 82nd in NET, fifth best in the A10. The Rams next opponent, the George Washington Revolutionaries (12-3), are also 1-1 in A10 play and are 123rd in NET.
The Revs have been the biggest surprise in the A10, somehow more so than the Rams. Originally picked to finish 13th in the A10 preseason poll, the Revs took care of an uninspiring non-conference schedule and then proved their worth in their most recent contest. Without their best player, third-year Darren Buchanan Jr., the Revs still dominated Dayton to an 82-62 victory. This was the Revs’ first Quad 2 opponent of the season and would have been a Quad 1 game had the Revs been on the road.
The Revs got two 20-point performances from second-year Christian Jones and sixth-year Gerald Drumgoole Jr. They also got 22 points from their bench. These sorts of performances aren’t anything new for the Revs. Their offense has statistically ranked as the second-best in the A10, only behind Rhode Island. However, unlike the Rams, the Revs have a top-five defense in the A10 in points allowed per game (67.0) and field goal percentage allowed (40.0). The Revs also lead the conference in steals per game at 9.2. Besides points per game, the lone advantage the Rams hold over the Revs is their ability to clean the glass. Rhode Island is the lone team in the A10, with over 40 rebounds per game.
Rhode Island will host George Washington on Wednesday. The Rams are 1-4 in their last five games against the Revs. None of the stats are as important to Miller and the Rams as their 9-0 record at home. The last time the Rams reached 10-0 at the Ryan Center was the 2017-18 season. Coincidentally, that was also the last season the Rams made it to the postseason.
