Mid-Major Basketball: What Nevada-Rhody means for MWC and A-10

Nevada got a huge win on Nov. 13 in knocking off Rhode Island. What does this game mean for the Mountain West and the Atlantic 10 in Mid-Major Basketball?

On the eve of the upcoming Champions Classic, one would argue that this was the mid-major’s version of the primetime event. Both Rhode Island and Nevada were selected to finish first in their own leagues in the preseason and both have shots at at-large bids to the Big Dance.

The game itself met expectations, with highlights all throughout the night. Nevada did control the game for the majority of the second half, but a flurry of threes and slashes to the hoop by the senior backcourt of the Rams tied things up late. However, the Martin brothers along with the star of the game Jordan Caroline couldn’t be stopped at the end and Nevada ultimately pulled away.

It was clear who the best players were by both teams in the game. Caroline showed how difficult of a mismatch he is with a 28-point and 12-rebound performance. He was joined by Cody Martin with 13 points and his brother Caleb with another strong game of 24 points off of 12-for-13 free throw shooting. Nevada went to the line all night, going 36-for-44 compared to the Rams going just 10-for-18.

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Jared Terrell was the top scorer for Rhode Island with 24 points off of 8-for-16 shooting. E.C. Matthews has struggled out the gate so far this season, including the first half of this game. His strong second half performance propelled the Rams back into this game and he finished with 18 on 7-for-17 from the field.

The production on the frontline was minimal but junior forward Nicola Akele provided a spark with eight points and six offensive boards for Rhody. While Nevada’s positionless lineup has it’s advantages, the 18 offensive rebounds given up to the Rams highlighted a potential weakness against bigger teams.

This was another big win for the Mountain West Conference, who also celebrated Wyoming’s win against the Oregon Beavers last night as well. It’s been a solid opening few days for them. That can’t be said for the Atlantic 10, who so far has yet to get any wins against good teams.

Teams like Richmond, Fordham, and St. Bonaventure suffered what should be considered bad losses, and others like Dayton had to survive against the likes of Ball State. George Mason had a huge opportunity to knock off Louisville, but couldn’t hold on. As of yet, VCU hasn’t played anyone good, but their exhibition loss makes their ceiling questionable.

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Rhode Island by itself is a solid team and will get a few more chances in the non-conference to get quality wins. If they don’t, that makes their odds of getting an at-large bid for the NCAA heavily shrink. Unless they run through the conference unblemished, they’re going to take on some bad losses, which will be a tough blow to the Rams. Rhode Island could be in a similar position as the team they just played in Nevada: a really good team that will have to win the conference tournament if they want to go dancing in March.

Nevada next game: Wednesday, Nov 15 –  Santa Clara (A)

Rhode Island next game: Sunday, Nov 19 – Holy Cross (H)