Men's basketball knocks off Providence for first time since 2019, continues perfect start

Photo courtesy of Bella Kelley

With just 24 seconds on the clock on Saturday, senior guard Sebastian Thomas heaved a deep 3-point shot from the right wing with the fate of the Ocean State’s most storied rivalry on the line.

It fell, and a sold-out Ryan Center exploded. For the first time since 2019, Rhode Island overcame Providence College, and for the first time in 77 years, Saturday’s 69-63 win extended its perfect start to the season to 9-0. 

“This is a game that you remember as a player here,” Miller said. “It's a big deal, and we treat it as that, and I think being able to check it off the box, so to speak, speaks volumes of where we've come in a short amount of time since last spring…I don't think anybody that watched that game today felt like that wasn't two teams that really, really played for a lot more than just a regular season game.”

The historic start comes just two years after Archie Miller won nine games across the entire season in his first year at the helm. Now, he is one of just two coaches in program history to stay perfect through his first nine games. The other – Frank Keaney.

Although Rhode Island struck first in the early stages of the game on Saturday, Providence stormed back with an 11-0 run, taking a lead that it never relinquished throughout the first 20 minutes. The Friars held control of the game throughout the half, leading by as much as 10, but the Rams did enough to keep the deficit to single-digits heading into the break. 

Senior guard Jaden House led the charge off the bench for Rhode Island in the opening half, putting up 14 of his 18 total points, including a late three-point effort that gave URI much-needed momentum after trailing by double-figures.

Out of the half, it was an entirely different story for Rhode Island. Thomas, who scored just 2 points and was 0-4 from the field in the first half, immediately rose up for a floater with the first possession of the half to set the tone for a resilient comeback. Thomas ended up scoring 19 – his 17th-straight double-figure performance dating back to last season – including a pair of dagger threes that lit up the Ryan Center to bring Rhode Island to victory.

“He's a different mentality,” Miller said. “He's a different player. There’s a different edge about him. He plays with the little guy, so to speak, chip on your shoulder that everybody admires when you know that that guy [is] the most confident guy out there on the floor.”

Defensively, sophomore forward David Fuchs played one of the best games of his young career, helping shutdown a star-studded Priovidence offense headlined by the return of Preseason Big East First Team selection Bryce Hopkins. Fuchs ended the night with nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals. 

Mid-way through the second half, Thomas and Fuchs combined for a pair of crucial buckets to spark a 7-0 run for Rhody and cut the Providence lead to just one. After slamming home Thomas’ alley-oop pass, Fuchs forced a turnover with a steal before getting going coast-to-coast to finish the play with a layup to make it a 46-45 game.

Moments later, down 48-45, Thomas hit a huge three-pointer to knot the game for the first time since the opening three minutes. Junior guard Jamarques Lawrence went on to give the Rams their first lead of the night with a mid-range jumper, 50-49, and the game went back-and-forth down the stretch.

With the contest in the balance of just one possession, a pair of late buckets from senior forward David Green and a long three from Thomas gave the Rams space to breath with under a minute to go.

From there, the Rams held on to secure their first win over Providence since 2019 in front of more than 7,600 screaming fans at the Ryan Center.

“Amazing, that's all I really can say about it, to be honest,” House said. “It was the best game I ever played in my life…last year, I didn't understand it, I didn't get it. I was a transfer in, just trying to get an understanding of why it's so important, but talking to the fans, talking to people around, locals and stuff, it's just they really embrace it, they really care about it, they really care about us.”

The Rams are back in action on Tuesday when they head to Brown for a 7 p.m. tip-off on ESPN+. Still in search of his first win against Brown, Archie Miller’s third go at the Bears comes with a chance to crown URI kings of the Ocean State, and keep a historic start to his third season alive.