(5) Rhode Island 63, (4) St. Louis 47

 

The Billikens were a nice middle-to-late February story.  Rick Majerus's youthful squad went 8-2 down the stretch, knocking Dayton out of at-large contention by beating the Flyers twice, and dealing a damaging defeat to Rhode Island in that stretch.  It's only a little bit of stretch to say that A-10 observers wouldn't have been at all surprised if St. Louis ended up cutting down the nets at Boardwalk Hall on Sunday.  Enter Rhode Island, a more experienced team in dire need of wins in the A-10 tourney to claim a spot in the Big Dance.  Jamal Wilson's jumper with 8:34 left to play in the first half broke a 14-14 tie, and the Rams never looked back on their way to the 63-47 win.

The Big Picture: It's probably safe to say that Jim Baron's squad has no chance of making the field of 64 unless it wins the A-10 tourney.  As the tournament's fifth seed, that meant the Rams would need to win four games in six days.  Today's win means that it's two down and two to go for the Rams.  The next two games are exponentially more difficult, but remember; the Rams have had winning streaks of eight, four, and three games this season so they're capable of winning a couple more in Atlantic City.

The Good: This wasn't a game where Rhode Island turned the jets on, buried a zillion threes, and overwhelmed its opponent on the way to victory.  That just doesn't happen against the Billikens, a team it's almost impossible to look good against.  Indeed, this was a scrap played at St. Louis' donkey cart pace.  And Rhode Island still won.  The Rams got timely shooting from Akeem Richmond (12 first-half points) and Lamonte Ulmer (12 second-half points), and made things difficult enough for the Billikens' star sophomore guard, Kwamain Mitchell, to survive.