Rhode Island vs Western Kentucky: 2020-21 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Dave Ascoli
The Rhode Island Rams and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will square off in a big non-conference game for both schools on Sunday afternoon.
Rhode Island vs Western Kentucky
Game time: Sunday, December 13, 12:00 p.m. ET
TV schedule: CBS Sports Network
Location: E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky
This isn’t exactly breaking news, but building a challenging non-conference schedule amidst a pandemic and a (slightly) shortened season isn’t easy. Especially for high mid-majors. That said, there are more than a few teams that have done a solid job of it. And two of those teams will face off on Sunday afternoon when the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers host the Rhode Island Rams in the Bluegrass State. Here’s a look at what to expect from both teams.
First, the visitors. Rhody will come into this one at 3-3 on the season and 0-1 in true road games. That one road loss came on Wednesday evening against #13 Wisconsin in a 73-62 decision. That snapped a three-game winning streak for the Rams, and all of those wins (South Florida, San Francisco, and Seton Hall) came against quality opponents. Rhode Island has also fallen to the-#18 Arizona State as well as Boston College, rounding out their “exclusively KenPom top 100 teams” schedule to date.
The key for URI, as always, is Fatts Russell. The Naismith Award nominee hasn’t quite replicated his 2019-20 numbers so far, especially from long range. But he’s scored in double-figures in all but one of the Rams’ contests so far for a 16.0 points-per-game average.
Fellow senior guard Jeremy Sheppard checks in with 11.8 points thanks in part to shooting it at a 52.6 percent clip from three. Bigs Antwan Walker and twins Makhi and Makhel Mitchell will patrol the paint for David Cox’s squad.
As for WKU, they’re coming off a nail-biting 86-84 win over Gardner Webb on Thursday night to move to 4-2 on the season. The Hilltoppers also hold a marquee win over Memphis and another solid ‘W’ against Northern Iowa. And much like Rhode Island, they don’t have any bad losses. Louisville and then-#15 West Virginia have been the only teams to down Western Kentucky this season — both away from home. WKU is 2-0 so far at the E.A. Diddle Arena this season.
The Hilltoppers differ a bit from URI in that their main force is a big man — 6’11” Charles Bassey. The junior is averaging 17 points and 11.7 rebounds to go along with 3.8 blocks per game. Oh, and he’s coming off a career-best 29 points on 13-for-19 shooting in Thursday night’s win. Senior guard Taveion Hollingsworth will try to slow down Rhody’s guards while dropping some buckets of his own. He’s averaging 16.8 points this season to go along with 2.3 assists.
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This game figures to be a close battle between two teams with somewhat conflicting styles. And both squads have shown the ability to take down tough foes this season. Whoever comes out on top will add another notch to their potential NCAA Tournament resume.