SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The URI basketball team begins chapter two in its season tonight, a section that should be different than the opening chapter.

The next six games, beginning tonight when the Rams host New Hampshire at the Ryan Center, figure to be much more orderly in terms of the number of games. The game is listed for 7 p.m., but it will start a bit later.

The URI women will play Holy Cross at 5 p.m., so it is likely the men’s game will begin about 7:30.

It also looks much easier to get through, at least on paper. It is the part of the season when URI has to run off some victories heading into Atlantic 10 play.

Chapter one in the Rams season has to be recorded as a qualified success.

The team won six while it was kept busy by a nine-game swing that saw little time to practice.

The Rams went 6-3, a record most Rhody fans likely would have taken before the ball went up for the first time.

As it turned out, the team played so well, that the record actually is a bit of a disappointment. Only once, against Villanova, was URI clearly beaten. The team has given every indication that it has a chance to make a run at 20 victories again this season.

Beginning tonight, the team will play four games in the next 22 days and six games in 27 days before beginning Atlantic 10 play.

In the remaining nonleague games, URI is likely to be favored five times. The one game in which it will be an underdog is Dec. 20 against Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City.

If they can take care of business, the Rams should be in double figures in victories when they begin conference play, not 14-1 as they were last season but in good shape nonetheless.

New Hampshire comes in tonight with a 3-3 record, including close victories over Colgate and Brown in its last two starts. Under coach Bill Herrion, who had success at Drexel, the Wildcats rely on 3-point shooting. They made 14 against Brown.

They are averaging 9.9 per game. They have made 59 3-pointers in six starts, the same number URI has made in nine games.Tonight

URI vs. New Hampshire

7:30

pkenyon@projo.com