SOUTH KINGSTOWN — It was not exactly a Christmas present, but the holiday break was much welcomed by URI basketball coach Jim Baron.

“When you’ve been traveling around as much as we have, it’s good to have a break,” Baron said yesterday before he and his team headed to New Jersey.

The Rams (8-4), who haven’t played in 10 days, get back to work tonight when they face a struggling Fairleigh Dickinson team (1-9) at 7 at FDU’s Rothman Center in Teaneck, N.J. Baron says his team feels good and ready to go.

The URI players who live close enough had a chance to spend the holiday at home with their families. They resumed practice the day after Christmas. Some of the bumps and bruises have had time to heal and everyone has had a chance to catch his breath.

“We’ve had a lot of challenging games, so [the break] has been good,” Baron said. “We’re ready.”

The Rams have had a chance to assess themselves during the break. One area in particular jumps out when the stats of the Rams and FDU, the opponent tonight, are compared.

That is turnovers and assists. They are two of the biggest reasons the Rams have played well while the Knights have struggled.

FDU has been solid in the past under coach Tom Green, a 25-year veteran. Green has won 401 games. His teams frequently have been contenders in the Northeast Conference.

However, the team does not have a senior this year and it has had terrible trouble handling the ball. The Knights enter tonight with an atrocious assist/turnover ratio. They have had 85 assists, while committing 185 turnovers. Former URI guard Terence Grier, in his first year of eligibility for FDU, is typical. Playing as the sixth man, Grier is averaging 5.5 points in 20 minutes per game. He has 6 assists with 24 turnovers.

URI, on the other hand, has allayed any fears that protecting the ball would be a problem this season. The Rams begin play tonight leading all Atlantic 10 teams in assist/turnover ratio. They have had 174 assists and 157 turnovers. The Rams play so quickly that they have averaged 14 turnovers, seventh in the A-10. But their style allows for more possessions than other teams.

“When you’re playing quicker, you get more opportunities and when you get more opportunities you’re more able to attack the bucket,” Baron said. “When you play aggressively like we’re doing, it can make guys more free, less worried about turning it over. When you play slow, you can be more apt to turn it over.”

After graduating point guard Parfait Bitee, the Rams turned the floor direction over to sophomore Marquis Jones and freshman Stevie Mejia. Both have had ups and downs, but overall have made the point guard spot a positive for the Rams. Jones has 42 assists and 32 turnovers. Mejia has 21 assists to go with 13 turnovers, which includes 10 assists and only two turnovers in the last four games.

But they are not alone in creating the good assist-turnovers numbers. Bill Coen, the former URI assistant and now Northeastern coach, pointed out after his team was beaten by URI, how the Rams are less reliant on having one player handle the ball than many other teams.

“They’re one of the best passing teams I’ve seen,” Coen said.

pkenyon@projo.com