Game Info: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Hagan Arena - Hawk Hill, Philadelphia
Tickets | TV: ESPN+ | Listen: sjuhawks.com | Live Stats: sjuhawks.com | Saint Joseph's Game Notes | Rhode Island Game Notes

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Opening Tip
The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team celebrates Senior Day, hosting the Rhode Island Rams on Wednesday, March 5. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is schedule for 7:00 p.m. with the game to air on ESPN+.

3...2...1    
Erik Reynolds II enters Wednesday's game against Rhode Island with 2,092 career points. He is two away from tying and three from passing former National Player of the Year Jameer Nelson (2000-04) for the career scoring record at Saint Joseph's. He also enters the game against URI with 337 career three-pointers, six from tying and seven from passing Langston Galloway's (2011-14) career mark of 343.

Welcome To The Club    
With his dunk off an alley oop at the 11:20 mark of the second half at Fordham on Saturday, Rasheer Fleming became the 60th member of the St. Joe's 1,000-point club. The total is even more impressive when its recognized that Fleming averaged just 5.8 points and scored only 176 total as a freshman. The junior from Camden, N.J. is tallying 15.5 a game this season.

X Factor    
A force all season, Xzayvier Brown has raised his game to new heights in the last seven contests. The sophomore from Philadelphia is averaging 19.7 points per game since February 7, pulling in six rebounds a contest and shooting 51.6 percent from the floor. He is also averaging 4.6 assists a contest as the Hawks have gone 6-1.

One Week To Go    
The Atlantic 10 enters its final week of regular season play on Tuesday as Dayton hosts Saint Louis and VCU travels to Duquesne. Heading into its final two contests. St. Joe's finds itself locked in a four-way tie for third and one of the coveted double bye spots in the conference tournament. Currently, SJU, Dayton, Loyola Chicago and Saint Louis are all 10-6 in league play. The A-10 Championship begins on March 12 at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. Based on the conference standings, the Hawks are guaranteed to not play a First Round game and the earliest they could start would be in the Second Round on March 13.

Crowded in The NET    
With the win against the Fordham, Saint Joseph's moved up a handful of spots in the NET ratings, slotting in at No. 77. The Atlantic 10 has four teams inside the NET 80 and five teams in the top-100. Three of the teams, Dayton (69), George Mason (74) and the Hawks are within eight places of each other. The NET rating will come into play in both the seeding of teams for the NCAA Championship, but will also be one of the factors used to determine the A-10's exempt bid to the NIT, which will guarantee an option of a home game in the First Round of that tournament.

Into The Top 10    
Justice Ajogbor continues to make opposing teams question their thoughts of driving to the basket as he blocked another five shots against Fordham. The five swats give him 67 on the year and moved the Benin City, Nigeria native into ninth place on the Hawks' single-season block list, passing Alex Sazonov (65 - 2000-01) and Tony Coster (66 - 1981-82). It is the third time this season he has blocked five shots in a game, matching his totals against Loyola Chicago (2/1/25) and Richmond (2/22/25). He is one of three players with five blocks in game three or more times in a season in the past 20 years at SJU, joining C.J. Aiken and Dwayne Jones. Overall, Ajogbor has 13 games this season with three or more blocks, tied for eighth nationally, and is posting 3.1 BPG in A-10 play.

Team Effort    
In addition to Ajogbor's efforts, Rasheer Fleming had three blocks while Xzayvier Brown and Dasear Haskins had one each, giving SJU 10 total rejections in the game. It is the third time this season St. Joe's recorded double digit blocks. Prior to this season, the Hawks hadn't blocked 10 or more shots in a contest since January 12, 2013 against Duquesne. Saint Joseph's has seven or more blocks in a game 12 times this season, the third highest total in Division I. It is 9-3 in those games.

Scouting Report    
Rhode Island enters play 17-11 overall and is 6-10 in the A-10 following a 91-88 setback against UMass on Saturday. The Rams have struggled in recent games, dropping three in a row. They were picked 11th in the preseason conference poll.

Leading the offense for URI is Sebastian Thomas at 17.8 points per game. He is one of four players to score in double figures, joined by David Green (14.9), Jaden House (13.0) and Jamarques Lawrence (10.3). David Fuchs tops the Rams in rebounding at 7.6 a night. Thomas has 158 assists.

Scoring has not been a problem for Rhode Island, which ranks second in the A-10 and in the top-75 nationally in points per game at 78.1. The Rams will get out and run in transition, leading the conference and sitting 29th nationally with 13.88 fastbreak points an outing.

URI has to score a lot of points to overcome a defense that gives up 74.1 a night, 12th in the Atlantic 10. They also struggle to hold on to the ball at tomes, ranking 13th in the conference with 13.0 turnovers per game.

Rhode Island has been a much different team at home and on the road this season. In 16 games at the Ryan Center, URI is 13-3, averages more than 80 points per game and shoot 48 percent from the floor. On the road, the Rams are 1-8, score 71.2 a night, shoot 43.2 percent and are outrebounded as well.

Archie Miller is in his third season as the head coach at URI with a record of 38-53 in Kingston. His teams have improved in each of his three seasons, going from 9-22 in his first year to their current record of 17-11.

All-Time Series    
Wednesday is the 111th all-time meeting between the Hawks and Rams. SJU holds a 59-51 advantage in a series that dates to December 14, 1940. Rhode Island has evened the record in recent years, winning seven of the last nine contests. The Hawks are 6-4 against URI at Hagan Arena.

Last Time Against Rhode Island    
Rhode Island shot better than 50 percent in the final 20 minutes as the Rams came back from a halftime deficit to down the Hawks 78-74 on January 3, 2024 at the Ryan Center. Rasheer Fleming posted a double-double for SJU with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Erik Reynolds II scored 14. Xzayvier Brown chipped in off the bench with 13. Except for a 26 second stretch, St. Joe's led for the entire first half and took a 36-30 led into the break. The Hawks expanded the lead in the first six minutes of the second before Rhode Island outscored SJU 38-22 in the final 13:52 of the contest.

Up Next    
Saint Joseph's closes out the regular season, heading up to Olney to face off against La Salle on Saturday, March 8. Tipoff from Glazer Arena is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. with the game to air on USA Network.