No. 23 Rhode Island Tries To Carry On Momentum Thursday

Rams visit Saint Louis after earning first conference win Sunday

Jan. 16, 2008

Rhode Island looks to carry the momentum from a dramatic conference win on the road Tuesday night when it visits Atlantic 10 rival Saint Louis.

The No. 23 Rams (15-2, 1-1) earned their first conference win Sunday, rallying from seven points down in the second half before Jimmy Baron's fadeaway jumper with 3.2 seconds left gave them an 80-78 victory over Duquesne.

Baron's game-winning basket helped overshadow his worst shooting performance of the season. He made 4 of 14 shots from the floor - including a 2-for-10 effort from 3-point range - for 14 points.

"My teammates stayed with me," said Baron, who is making 47.4 percent of his shots this season and ranks second on the team with 16.2 points per game "They said, 'Just be confident, keep shooting it."'

Rhode Island will now look to build on the victory with an improved performance on the road. The Rams have split their four away games, and lost their last game away from the Ryan Center - a 92-83 loss at then-No. 17 Dayton in their conference opener Jan. 9.

The Rams could also stand to do a better job holding on to the ball than they did Sunday. They committed 17 turnovers against the Dukes - one fewer than their total from the previous two games. Rhode Island is among the best teams in the Atlantic 10 at avoiding turnovers, averaging 12.9, while forcing opponents to give up the ball 17.3 times per game.

Will Daniels, who leads the team with 19.3 points per game and is second with 7.4 rebounds, matched his season high with 28 points Sunday and grabbed 11 rebounds.

However, Daniels has struggled in two career games - both losses - at Saint Louis (9-7, 0-2), making only 7 of 19 shots (36.8 percent) and totaling 21 points.

Rhode Island split the two-game season series with the Billikens in 2006-07, and is 1-3 all-time versus Saint Louis.

Saint Louis, which joined the Atlantic 10 for the 2005-06 season, is hoping to avoid starting its conference schedule with three consecutive losses for the first time since going 0-4 to start 2002-03 in Conference USA.

The Billikens are also trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak since March 1-9, 2006 - a skid which closed their first season in the Atlantic 10.

Kevin Lisch could help their cause by shaking out of his shooting funk. The junior guard leads the team with 13.4 points per game, but has made only 4 of 21 shots (19.0 percent) from the field and totaled 15 points over the last two games.

Lisch shot 59.3 percent and averaged 18.0 points in the previous three games - all wins for Saint Louis.