In the last game, before they start off their respective preseason tournaments, both Alabama and Rhode Island will be looking not only for their first big win of the season but for momentum as well.
TV Schedule: Friday, November 15, 7:30 PM ET on NBC Sports Network
Arena: Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island
In a huge opportunity for both teams to put themselves back into the NCAA Tournament conversation after hitting a hurdle opening week last week. The Alabama Crimson Tide from the SEC will come up to Kingston for their first road game of the season while the Rhode Island Rams from the A10 will be waiting for them as it’s only one out of two games remaining at home against a Power Six team.
Both teams will be coming into this match-up 1-1, with poor resumes so far due to how they lost. Alabama lost their first game of the season to Penn at home 81-80 before beating Florida Atlantic 78-59 where they never looked back after the first half. On the other side, Rhode Island will be coming off of a 76-65 opener win against LIU and a major missed opportunity when they lost to the #7 Maryland Terrapins 73-55 where the Rams had a 12 point lead around the midway point of the first before being outscored by 15 in the second half.
The Crimson Tide have not also been favored by the NCAA transfer area and the injury bug last week in addition the loss, as the NCAA denied the waiver appeal for Villanova transfer guard Jahvon Quinerly practically rendering him void of the opportunity to play this season in addition to starting guard Herbert Jones missing the last game against Florida Atlantic due to an elbow injury with no news whether or not he will be able to play this game against Rhode Island. Rhode Island has suffered no setbacks involving any of its players over the past week.
Alabama will be led by sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr who led the team in points per game and assists per game last season with 13.5 points scored and 2.9 assists gathered per game. Also in the back-court with him will be fellow starter from last year and current junior John Petty. Petty was in second for rebounds per game and third for points scored per game last season with 10.2 points scored per game and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Rhode Island will be led senior guard Jeff Dowtin who led the team in points and assists last year, scoring 15.3 points per game and getting 3.4 assists per game. Another returning senior starter that was on the leaderboard for this team last season was forward Cyril Langevine who was second in the team in points with 14.7 points scored per game but he led the team in rebounds with 9.9 rebounds per game.
An area of concern for both teams so far this season would have to be shooting. Both the Crimson Tide and the Rams rank over 300th for field goal percentage. Alabama is ranked 300th with a percentage of only 39.3% shots made and Rhode Island is ranked 342nd with only 34.3% of their shots being made. Rhode Island’s two-point percentage is also near the bottom of the country being ranked at 347th place with only just over 35% of two-point shots making it in.
In the upcoming weeks, both teams only have a non-conference schedule containing only four more opponents from multi-bid conferences. Alabama has the tougher remaining schedule as they join the fray at the Battle 4 Atlantis which includes a first-round match-up against the #6 North Carolina Tar Heels while Richmond’s toughest non-conference game remaining is the #23 LSU Tigers who have just lost to fellow Atlantic 10 member VCU Rams.
All in all, if either of these teams wants to get an at-large bid in March, a win in this game is not something that they can leave off of their resumes.