It will be a battle between Atlantic 10 opponents when the Massachusetts Minutemen (8-12) welcome the Rhode Island Rams (12-9) to William D. Mullins Center. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
The Rams are coming off a 64-55 loss at the hands of Saint Joseph’s on Saturday. Jared Terrell had a good shooting night, leading the game with 22 points.
Over the last five games, Trey Davis has really been playing well for the Minutemen. During that stretch, he has averaged 22.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.8 three-pointers.
This game should be a battle of contrasting styles. The Minutemen (ranked 31st in the nation in possessions per game) prefer an up-tempo style of play, while the Rams (335th) are slow-paced.
Massachusetts, a five-point underdog, will look to capitalize at home against Rhode Island. The teams combine to set the Over/Under (O/U) at 144 points. The Minutemen enter the game with records of 8-12 Straight Up (SU) and 4-9-1 Against The Spread (ATS). They are 2-6-1 ATS over their last 10 games.
On the other side, Rhode Island has a SU record of 12-9 and an ATS record of 7-12. The Rhode Island defense as a whole has been firing on all cylinders so far, ranking 28th in Division I with only 64.2 points allowed per game. Rhode Island’s three-point defense is one of the top in the country, with opponents making only 4.0 shots from the three-point line per game.
This game marks the first time these teams will play this season. The last time these conference rivals played, Rhode Island won, but Massachusetts still leads the head-to-head record, 8-2 SU, over their most recent matchups. At 5-5, they are even ATS. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Massachusetts and Rhode Island each held the edge in all three of these categories once in the last five meetings.
Predictions: SU Winner – URI, ATS Winner – URI, O/U – Over
Notes
Massachusetts is 1-5-1 ATS in its last 7 games.
Massachusetts is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Massachusetts’s last 7 games.
Massachusetts is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Massachusetts is 5-11 ATS in its last 16 games when playing at home against Rhode Island.
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Massachusetts’s last 10 games when playing at home against Rhode Island.
Massachusetts scores an average of just 76.5 points per game (ranked 106th). Rhode Island ranks 28th in points allowed, giving up 64.2 points per game.
The Rhode Island Rams have a defensive rating of 99.0 (ranked 95th), while the Massachusetts Minutemen have an offensive rating of 104.3 (ranked 204th).
The Massachusetts Minutemen average a field goal percentage of 43.9% this season. The Rhode Island Rams have a losing record of 2-5 when opponents have a FG% of 43.9% or greater.
On average, Massachusetts attempts 22.0 three pointers and Rhode Island attempts 18.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Massachusetts Minutemen have a 5-8 record while the Rhode Island Rams have a winning 5-3 record.
Massachusetts records 6.5 steals per game. Rhode Island is 5-4 when giving up at least 6 steals.
