The Minutemen are undefeated at home and pose a tough test for the Rams, who are coming off two straight losses.

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, February 4, 2006

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

It has been only 10 days since Rhode Island and Massachusetts met on the basketball court. It just seems like so much longer.

When the teams get together tonight for a rematch at 7 o'clock at the Mullins Center, the attitude on both sides and the stakes involved will be different than when they met last week.

Ten days ago, both teams carried 4-1 Atlantic 10 records into their match. Both were flying high, battling for second place and the honor of the biggest surprise team in the conference. Tonight, both come in fighting for their lives. Neither has won since URI outlasted the Minutemen, 58-55, in an entertaining game on Jan. 25 at the Ryan Center.

Rhode Island enters 11-8 overall, 5-3 in the A-10 after losses to George Washington and Saint Louis. The Minutemen are 9-9, 4-4 in the league, after dropping three straight on the road. Rather than fighting for position behind George Washington, the two enter tonight fighting just to stay in the upper half of the standings.

Other than George Washington being the team to beat, little else has been determined in what is becoming as competitive and as balanced a conference as the A-10 has been in years. It makes for all kinds of swings for everyone involved, which is not necessarily bad.

Actually, it makes for a better conference. Brad Soderberg, the Saint Louis coach, spoke about it earlier this week after his team beat URI.

"My experience in Division I has been in the Big Ten and Conference USA prior to coming to the Atlantic 10. That's kind of how it is in a good conference," Soderberg said of the competitive balance.

"I'll give you an example," Soderberg said. "Supposedly the worst team in this league is St. Bonaventure. They had a shot that was in the hole at the buzzer to beat us in St. Louis [in the league opener] and it just spun out. I'm thinking to myself, 'If that's the worst team in this league, we're in a world of hurt.'

"That's what a good conference is about," Soderberg said. "I just hope we're measuring up to the tradition and the history of the Atlantic 10 because we're very happy to be here."

Unlike the fans who want to figure out possibilities a week or a month from now, the coaches want none of that.

"You can't figure any of that out. The only thing you can focus on is what you have next," said URI coach Jim Baron. "We've got teams that can beat up on each other, a lot of good teams. The only thing we should be doing is worrying about ourselves. I don't think this is a conference where you look ahead."

That is the case more than ever for his team because health has now become an issue. The good news is that the injuries to Jamaal Wise (hip) and Parfait Bitee (ankle) do not appear to be as serious as they looked at the end of Wednesday's loss to Saint Louis. Wise has been able to practice and likely will be able to go. Bitee is more questionable. He has missed practice time and his status for tonight is uncertain.

Bitee's presence is even more important because of the way URI beat the Minutemen last week. The Rams won that one by three points, in large part because they forced UMass into 15 turnovers that led to 21 Rhody points. They did it by pressing more in that game than in any other all season. Bitee was a big part of that press.

Despite that advantage, URI still needed a 3-point basket by Dawan Robinson with three seconds left to win. Tonight, the Minutemen get to host at the Mullins Center, where they are 7-0 on the season.

pkenyon@projo.com / (401) 277-7340