1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball
1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Record	28–7 (14–4 A-10)
Head coach	Tom Penders (2nd season);
Assistant coach	Matt Brady (1st season)
Home arena	Keaney Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

The 1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team represented the University of Rhode Island as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference during the 1987–88 college basketball season. The team was led by second-year head coach Tom Penders and played their home games at Keaney Gymnasium. They finished the season 28–7, 14–4 in A-10 play and lost in the championship game of the 1988 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament. Rhode Island was invited to the 1988 NCAA tournament as No. 11 seed in the East region and make the school's first run to the Sweet Sixteen. In the opening round, they upset No. 6 seed Missouri,^[1] and followed that by knocking off No. 3 seed Syracuse in the round of 32.^[2] In the East regional semifinal, the Rams narrowly lost to Duke, 73–72.^[3] To date, this season marks one of only two appearances by the Rams in the Sweet Sixteen of an NCAA Tournament (1998).

1987–88 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Temple †	18	–	0	1.000	32	–	2	.941
Rhode Island	14	–	4	.778	28	–	7	.800
West Virginia	12	–	6	.667	18	–	14	.563
Saint Joseph's	9	–	9	.500	15	–	14	.517
Penn State	9	–	9	.500	13	–	14	.481
George Washington	7	–	11	.389	13	–	15	.464
St. Bonaventure	7	–	11	.389	13	–	15	.464
Duquesne	6	–	12	.333	11	–	21	.344
UMass	5	–	13	.278	10	–	17	.370
Rutgers	3	–	15	.167	7	–	22	.241

† 1988 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year
G	10	Carlton Owens	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Sr
G	22	Tom Garrick	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr
F/C	24	Kenny Green	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So
C	50	Bonzie Colson	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Jr
G	16	Jim Christian	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr

Head coach

Tom Penders

Assistant coach(es)

Matt Brady (Siena)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 1987*		vs. The Citadel Investors Classic	W 113–85	1–0	University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia
Nov 28, 1987*		at Virginia Investors Classic	W 76–73	2–0	University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia
Dec 1, 1987*		at New Hampshire	W 96–67	3–0	Lundholm Gym Durham, New Hampshire
Dec 9, 1987*		Northeastern	W 95–81	4–0	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 12, 1987		at No. 11 Temple	L 66–75	4–1 (0–1)	McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 19, 1987*		at Providence	W 92–70	5–1	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 23, 1987*		at San Diego State	W 77–76 ^OT	6–1	San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California
Dec 26, 1987*		at U.S. International	W 101–90	7–1	The Pavilion San Diego, California
Dec 30, 1987*		vs. Fordham Chaminade Tournament	L 53–59	7–2	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 31, 1987*		vs. Manhattan Chaminade Tournament	W 94–80	8–2	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan 1, 1988*		vs. BYU-Hawaii	W 94–80	9–2	George Q. Cannon Activities Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan 7, 1988		Penn State	W 83–80	10–2 (1–1)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 9, 1988		at Saint Joseph's	W 99–80	11–2 (2–1)	Hagan Arena Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 12, 1988*		at Brown	W 104–91	12–2	Marvel Gymnasium Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 16, 1988		at Rutgers	W 84–71	13–2 (3–1)	Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey
Jan 18, 1988		at George Washington	W 92–61	14–2 (4–1)	Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C.
Jan 23, 1988		Saint Joseph's	W 91–85	15–2 (5–1)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 26, 1988		at UMass	W 101–78	16–2 (6–1)	Curry Hicks Cage Amherst, Massachusetts
Jan 28, 1988*		vs. George Washington	W 84–76 ^OT	17–2 (7–1)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 31, 1988		No. 6 Temple	L 70–77	17–3 (7–2)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 4, 1988		vs. Rutgers	W 111–92	18–3 (8–2)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 7, 1988		at West Virginia	W 74–71	19–3 (9–2)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 9, 1988		at Duquesne	L 93–98	19–4 (9–3)	Civic Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 13, 1988		St. Bonaventure	W 93–73	20–4 (10–3)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 18, 1988		Duquesne	L 89–100	20–5 (10–4)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 20, 1988		vs. West Virginia	W 75–60	21–5 (11–4)	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Feb 25, 1988		at Penn State	W 77–69	22–5 (12–4)	Rec Hall University Park, Pennsylvania
Feb 27, 1988		at St. Bonaventure	W 93–79	23–5 (13–4)	Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York
Mar 2, 1988		UMass	W 87–73	24–5 (14–4)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Atlantic 10 tournament
Mar 7, 1988*		vs. Rutgers Quarterfinals	W 104–73	25–5	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Mar 8, 1988*		at West Virginia Semifinals	W 65–63	26–5	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Mar 9, 1988*		vs. No. 1 Temple Championship game	L 63–68	26–6	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1988*	(11 E)	vs. (6 E) Missouri First round	W 87–80	27–6	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Mar 19, 1988*	(11 E)	vs. (3 E) No. 9 Syracuse Second round	W 97–94	28–6	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Mar 24, 1988* CBS	(11 E)	vs. (2 E) No. 5 Duke East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 72–73	28–7	Brendan Byrne Arena (19,591) East Rutherford, New Jersey
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in EST.

^[4]

References

^ "Missouri Can't Guard Against Rhode Island Backcourt, 87-80". The Los Angeles Times. March 18, 1988. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
^ "Rhode Island Upsets Syracuse". The Washington Post. March 20, 1988. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
^ "Cinderella RI Kissed Off By A Duke". Sun-Sentinel. March 25, 1988. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
^ "2021-22 Rhode Island Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Rhode Island Athletics. Retrieved January 23, 2022.

[ncaa-mizzou-1] "Missouri Can't Guard Against Rhode Island Backcourt, 87-80". The Los Angeles Times. March 18, 1988. Retrieved January 15, 2022.

[ncaa-orange-2] "Rhode Island Upsets Syracuse". The Washington Post. March 20, 1988. Retrieved January 23, 2022.

[3] "Cinderella RI Kissed Off By A Duke". Sun-Sentinel. March 25, 1988. Retrieved January 23, 2022.

[4] "2021-22 Rhode Island Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Rhode Island Athletics. Retrieved January 23, 2022.

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