Rams finally solve road woes
Experience with Princeton offense aids Rams in win over Holy Cross
WORCESTER, Mass. - David Cox is so experienced when it comes to the Princeton offensive system that he could easily coach in it. His University of Rhode Island Rams don’t run a system very similar to the ball screen-happy Princeton offense, but Cox’s prep work paid off in Saturday’s 79-63 win over Holy Cross.
A stretch of 11:04 passed over the span of both halves making the Crusaders hitting a field goal. The stretch of defensive dominance came on the heels of Rhody wins in the past few years against Richmond, American and Belmont, all of whom run a version of the Princeton attack. URI has now beaten Holy Cross in four consecutive seasons.
“I thought we were lockedin on our scouting report,” Cox said. “The Princeton offense is something to guard. Even with a 16-point lead, you’re not safe. We were on pins and needles for a while. I challenged these guys at the half and told them at some point, they were going to make a run.”
The Crusaders did make a run, but the Rams just don’t lose to teams like Holy Cross. Their only recent loss against a Princeton-like team was when Virginia beat them 70-55 last year. That defeat likely had more to do with how talented UVa was, and not necessarily because of Tony Bennett’s sets that are loosely based on the Princeton.
RAMS WIN WITHOUT THE 3
The shooting percentages weren’t as unseemly as they have been for the Rams. They were aces from the free throw line (24-27, 88.9 percent), and connected on 65.7 percent of their 2-point field goals. The 2-point success was far from just uncontested lay-ups, as Jeff Dowtin hit a trio of tough mid-range jumpers that helped stave off the Crusader comeback.
Beyond the arc continued to be a different story. A 3-18 showing on deep shots failed to improve the team’s most inefficient stat. They’re still in second-to-last nationally on 3-point field goal percentage.
Their 18 attempts tied a season-low (5-18 against Harvard, 2-18 against Providence), and reflects Cox’s philosophy on taking better quality shots in the flow of the offense.
“It’s something we have to continue to figure out,” he said. “I don’t necessarily have an answer, but I don’t think the 3s we took in the first six games were great 3s. You want toes to the line, you want an extra pass, you want inside out 3s. You don’t want pull-up 3s, five dribbles into your 3s. No team can be efficient playing that way.”
RUSSELL FINDS SPOT
Fatts Russell had another rough shooting day in the win, but took higher-quality looks and shot the ball less. He was 1-for-6 on 3-pointers, but created offense going to the rim. A 4-for7 mark inside the 3-pointer line led to a 19-point, eight free throw day for the sophomore.
WHOSE NEXT?
College schedules are a house of cards. Lose one game and it can create holes all across your entire out-of-conference slate. That’s just what happened to the Rams when Nevada chose not to honor the return game on the teams’ home-and-home series. This upcoming week represents the fourth time already this season that the team has had seven days off (or more) in between games.
“Never, in over 20 years of coaching college, AAU, high school, never had this type of scheduling,” Cox said. “But it is what it is and you have to make the best of it. The way I see it, it gives us more time to work on ourselves, and that’s what we’ve been doing. We’ll have the same approach this week going into the West Virginia game. It’s all about us at this point.”
“We had four or five days to prepare for this,” Dowtin said. “I really pushed my guys a lot and coach upped the tempo even more. We really got after it those four or five days of practice and that carried over.”
WHERE ARE THEY?
Officially the tilt was a neutral-site game, even though the DCU Center is less than five miles from the Holy Cross campus. Their on-site arena, the Hart Center, could have easily fit the 2,312 fans present on Saturday, but the appeal of playing at a ‘neutral’ site is likely the only reason the Rams agreed to play the Crusaders away from the Ryan Center in the first place.
Expect more fans on-hand when the Rams return to action next week at Mohegan Sun. Bob Huggins and his 6-3 West Virginia squad will be on-hand for yet another neutral-site showdown.