Rhode Island’s (12-3) offensive woes continued as the Rams lost to surging George Washington (13-3) 75-67, which was the Rams’ first home loss of the season.
In Rhode Island’s three conference games, they have been down by eight points or more at the half due to inefficient offense, shooting below 40% from the field in all three games. The Rams then attempted to mount a second-half comeback, but they have come up short twice.
“Man, I’ll tell you what, we’re hard to watch on offense,” Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller said following the game. “It makes me, it makes me sick.”
The Rams were without fourth-year David Green (shoulder) and second-year David Fuchs (foot), which one could use as an excuse; however, George Washington was missing two key players in third-year Darren Buchanan Jr. and second-year Trey Autry.
The Revolutionaries thumped Dayton (11-5) by 20 and the Rams by 8 without Buchanan. Buchanan is widely considered to be the Revolutionaries’ best player. George Washington has quickly proved to be a formidable foe in a competitive Atlantic 10. This win put the Revs 106th in KenPom while the Rams fell to 99th, their lowest mark in KenPom since November.
Miller feels the team has been lost since their win over Temple in the Hall of Fame Classic.
“We’ve lost our identity on offense, we just have,” Miller said. “Our purpose on offense, our ability to know what we’re doing, the ability to move the ball… we look like a shell of ourselves three weeks ago.”
Miller attributed some of that lost identity to the Rams’ inability to shoot. Since the start of conference play, the Rams are shooting 36.9% from the field and 25.5% from deep; both numbers are bottom two in the A-10. Against the Revs, the Rams shot 2 of 15 from beyond the arc; the starters shot a combined 0 of 9.
The Rams have also seemingly lost their playmaking chops overnight. Since the start of conference play, the Rams average an A-10-worst 10.7 assists per game, down five per game compared to their non-conference numbers. Against George Washington, the Rams had just 12 assists on 26 makes and 15 turnovers. On the other hand, the Revs looked like a well-oiled machine at times, with 20 assists on 28 makes and just 11 turnovers.
“We don’t share the ball, we just don’t,” Miller said. “We’re having a really hard time moving the ball, and we’re having a really hard time sharing the ball and that’s really hurt us. We’ve talked long and hard about how we want to play.”
On the defensive side of the floor, Miller was even more disappointed with his team. The Rams allowed 48 points in the paint, tying the season high from their loss at Brown (8-5). Rhode Island also put the Revs in the double bonus with 3:44 to go, all but guaranteeing a George Washington win.
“To be honest with you, I’m really disappointed defensively,” Miller said. “We looked unprepared, and as a coach, I think that’s the thing that eats you up the most.”
The Rams aren’t near the bottom of the A-10 in any defensive statistic, but they are middle of the pack in most. A mediocre defense isn’t awful, but it’s hard to win when your offense becomes stagnant and the defense lacks consistent effort.
“You can play terribly and not know what you’re doing, but the effort level speaks volumes about how committed you are as a unit,” Miller said. “That falls on me, our team wasn’t ready to play hard enough or well enough… we don’t have much room for error.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom in Kingston due to injuries, lack of effort from others, and persistence. Fourth-year Quentin Diboundje burst onto the scene against the Revs.
Diboundje was one of two Rams with a positive plus-minus; he finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. He was the first off the bench in the second half and created plenty of fireworks in just 23 minutes. His coast-to-coast dunk capped off a 13-2 Rams run and electrified the Ryan Center. Diboundje eventually fouled out, but as he left the court, he received a standing ovation from the home crowd.
“He’s going to play a lot of ball for us moving forward,” Miller said. “Our perimeter offense is really hurting us, lack of scoring, lack of shooting, lack of ability to make plays has put the ball in Sebastian’s [Thomas] hands way too much and he’s having to work way too hard. I think we need a spark, and I think Q is doing a great job.”
Thomas had another 20-point performance but shot 6 of 16 from the field and 0 of 3 from deep. Fourth-year Jaden House scored double digits for the first time since Dec. 7. House finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Rhode Island’s successful season has come to a sputtering halt. The Rams’ next chance to get back on track is Saturday against Richmond (7-9). It is unknown at this time if Fuchs or Green will be available for that game.
