Providence made their mistakes in Saturday’s 75-68 loss at Rhode Island, URI’s first victory in the series in eight tries, but credit Dan Hurley’s group. The Rams ramped up their aggressiveness after falling behind 16-9 early, out-scoring Providence 33-15 over the final 11 minutes of the first half.
The star during that stretch was tiny freshman Fatts Russell, a 165 pound point guard out of Philadelphia. Russell is a Imhotep Charter product, and if that school sounds familiar, it should. Former Friar Brandon Austin helped put them on the map before Russell starred there and led Imhotep to a top five national ranking as a senior.