Men's basketball falls in St. Louis, drops out of single-bye spot

Photo courtesy of Grace Steensma - gorhody.com

A chance to capitalize on recent momentum and inch closer to a tournament bye went missing for Rhode Island men’s basketball on Saturday. 

A trip to St. Louis left a familiar taste in the Rams’ mouths – defeat on the road. Although head coach Archie Miller is nearing the end of what will be his most successful season in charge in Rhode Island, a dismal road record once again held his team from any sort of consistency down the stretch. The Rams fell 81-66 to the Billikens.

From the tip, the hosts took an early lead and never gave it up. Senior guard Gibson Jimerson, who brought his career total to 136 points against Rhode Island in the win, opened the scoring with an early triple just 30 seconds into the game en route to a 21-point, 11 rebound double-double. That set the tone for a dominant offensive afternoon for the Billikens.

Jimerson led the way with 13 first-half points for St. Louis. His effort helped stretch the lead to as much as 10 in the first half before senior guard Sebastian Thomas sank a jumper to trim it to a 38-32 deficit at the break. 

Unfortunately for Thomas, his usual second-half resurgence just wasn’t there on Saturday. Just three points in the second half completed an eight-point total on the day, snapping a 33-game streak of double-figure scoring dating back more than a year to Feb. 1, 2024. 

Despite his quiet night, offense wasn’t the problem for Miller’s men. The Rams shot 46 percent from the field and 44 percent from distance throughout the game, but had no answers for the hosts’ relentless attack on the boards. In total, St. Louis outrebounded Rhode Island 42-29, including an 11-0 dominance on the offensive glass that led to 12 second chance points.

That, combined with a porous defense that could not contain a combined 43-point effort from Jimerson and junior center Robbie Avila, was ultimately the difference on Saturday. Although the Rams were active out of halftime, pulling the lead back to just 43-42 three minutes into the second half when David Green drove to the hoop through traffic, the Billikens responded equally as quickly with a 7-0 run to pull ahead yet again. 

From there, the Rams were thoroughly defeated, and could not rally to bring it back. St. Louis completely dominated down the stretch and managed to extend the lead to as much as 20, before settling for an emphatic 81-66 win.

Now, with just four games left, a crucial nationally-televised meeting with fourth-place Dayton awaits Rhode Island at the Ryan Center on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network, with radio broadcasts available on The Varsity Network and WRIU 90.3 FM Kingston.