December is the season for nonconference rivalry games in college basketball, but due to increasing roster turnover, players on Rhode Island and Providence are much less accustomed to their rivalry than the schools’ fans.
Coach Kim English and Providence (5-4) will try to avoid a repeat of last year when they host Rhode Island (7-2) on Saturday afternoon.
English arrived from George Mason in 2023-24 and has split the first two editions of the Ocean State Rivalry under his watch. After a 15-point win in 2023, the Friars headed to URI’s campus and were handed a 69-63 loss.
“I think our two games against Rhode Island have been very competitive,” English said this week. “High-intensity and competitive and fiery games.”
The only Friars to play in that game who are still on the team are No. 4 scorer Corey Floyd Jr. (11.1 points per game) and starting center Oswin Erhunmwunse. Rhode Island has just Drissa Traore (1.5 points per game) back. The only player on either team who hails from the state is Rams walk-on Jaymien Aponte.
Rhode Island coach Archie Miller is more concerned with the difficulty of playing at Providence’s raucous Amica Mutual Pavilion than explaining to his charges the history of the rivalry. The Rams haven’t won in that building since 2002.
“Going into that environment is extremely difficult. It’s one of the best home courts in college basketball,” Miller said. “We’re gonna have to play through the runs, we’re gonna have to play through the energy. But we just have to be ourselves.
“… I’m not going to be able to show some big movie and ‘This is what it’s like’ and all that stuff, or highlight films. They have a new team that they’re developing as well.”
Miller’s group gained some experience beating an in-state rival this week when the Rams defeated Brown 66-56 on Tuesday. Tyler Cochran went for 17 points and a season-high 10 rebounds one game after scoring a season-best 20 points in a win against Temple.
Cochran, previously with Northern Illinois, Ball State and Toledo, also leads Division I in steals with 34, or 3.8 per game.
Vanderbilt transfer Jason Edwards dropped 24 points and grabbed four steals in Providence’s 94-64 win over Fairleigh Dickinson this week. The Friars have brought Edwards off the bench the past two games, but he leads the team with 19.2 points per game.
Erhunmwunse blocked six shots and leads the nation with 30 blocks.
The game could serve as a litmus test as English’s proverbial seat gets warmer.
“It’s a great game with great historical implications in this state,” English said, “and we’ll be ready to go.”
