Atlantic 10 Basketball: St. Bonaventure on top in latest power rankings

6. Rhode Island Rams

• 2020-21 record: 8-8 overall, 5-4 A-10
• Previous ranking: 6th

The Rams are the masters of having, arguably, the best win in the Atlantic 10 – but having the oddest results in the conference, as well.  A handful of their wins are solid, including over San Francisco, Seton Hall, and VCU, and – most importantly – the own the only smudge on St. Bonaventure’s record.  But URI also had to go to overtime to beat Saint Joseph’s, and they own losses to UMass and Duquesne on the road.

URI most recently avoided disaster over the weekend, playing Fordham without star guard Fatts Russell.  In a game that Fordham led by as much as eight in during the second half, URI got necessary solid performances out of Jeremy Sheppard (16 points) and Ishmael Leggett (12 points).  The Rams averaged just 0.84 points per possession – but their stellar defense, which held Fordham to 0.68 points per possession and 35.5% (2PT) and 24.0% (3PT) clips, was the star.

Russell’s absence – which was just the second game Russell has ever missed in his four-year career – could yield issues for URI moving forward.  A core muscle injury, it is unknown the exact timetable of his return – but the Rams could desperately use his services back, considering the guard has ripped through six-straight double-digit performances where he averaged 17.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists.

The oddity for URI is, despite their losses, there necessarily have not been many bad areas in the box score – they have just simply been outplayed in close contests down the stretch.  The one area that could desperately use an improvement, however, is their performance at the free-throw line.

They rank 249th nationally in FT% (67.7%) – and their performances at the FT line in the last three outings have been the difference-maker, with clips of 11-21 (vs. UMass, where they outscored UMass from the floor), 17-22 (in a two-point game vs. Duquesne), and 9-16 (in a seven-point game vs. Richmond).

With Russell’s timetable currently unknown, the Rams could be in danger of dropping their next game – at a red-hot La Salle squad on the road.  The Rams enter a gauntlet after that, facing Dayton twice, VCU, UMass, Saint Louis, and Davidson in the final stretch of the season.