Rhode Island basketball still winless on the road this season after loss at Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Rhode Island Rams will have to wait for another game to notch their first road win of the season.

URI fell to Charleston, 85-70, on Sunday afternoon after the Rams were outscored in the second half by a dozen points. Ben Burnham netted a game-high 23 points to help the Cougars open up what had been a 3-point lead at the break.

"We really competed, I thought, pretty well in the first half," Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller said. "Didn't take care of it as well as we needed to, but we did enough things in the first half from a rebounding perspective, and just competing, playing hard,"

More: URI Ring of Honor welcomes Mobley, Reynolds Dean, Wheeler.

More: Here's how Brown basketball defeated Rhode Island for the third straight time.

"And the second half, the wheels came off. You saw a team that was more together, much more aggressive, much more in tune with what they were doing. And, we sort of, as the game continued to go, just fell through the cracks."

Charleston (5-4) hit 11 of its first 16 shots in the second half. Jordan Crawford's three 3-pointers helped turn what had been a three-point game at halftime into a double-digit lead.

Rhode Island was coming off a 67-64 loss to Brown on Wednesday at the Ryan Center. David Fuchs, who had 11 points in that loss, didn't make the trip. The team announced on Sunday that he had been placed in the concussion protocol. The Rams also were without the services of guard Brandon Weston (personal).

More: Connecticut rises to the top in latest Big East rankings after defeating North Carolina.

Cam Estevez led the Rams with 13 points and two steals. Jaden House added 12 points for Rhode Island.

"I think right now, we're a little down in the dumps when things don't go our way, and that's not a good sign. We're going to have to get ourselves out of that," Miller said.

Burnham added five rebounds for the Cougars (5-4). Reyne Smith finished 4 of 6 from 3-point range to add 12 points. Jordan Crawford had 11 points and shot 4 for 5, including 3 for 3 from beyond the arc.

With the loss, URI falls to 5-5 on the season. Since winning at Massachusetts on Jan. 15, 2022, the Rams are just 3-23 in games away from the Ryan Center.

The Rams have played just one true road game thus far, falling at in-state rival Providence on Dec. 2. The only other games played away from the Ryan Center this year were the two contests in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off, played at Mohegan Arena in Uncasville, Conn., last month.

Rhody is back in action on Saturday, facing Delaware at the Holiday Hoopfest in Elmont, N.Y.

RHODE ISLAND (5-5): Bilau 2-3 0-0 4, House 4-8 3-4 12, Kortright 4-10 0-0 9, Montgomery 4-10 0-0 9, Wright 4-8 0-0 9, Estevez 5-9 0-0 13, Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Foumena 4-7 0-0 8, Dubsky 2-3 0-0 6, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-61 3-4 70.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (5-4): Brzovic 3-11 0-2 6, Burnham 9-11 4-6 23, Policelli 2-9 2-2 7, Fulton 2-2 1-2 6, Rodgers 2-6 0-0 4, Butler 5-7 0-1 10, R.Smith 4-6 0-0 12, Scott 3-3 0-0 6, Crawford 4-5 0-0 11, London 0-1 0-0 0, Wol 0-3 0-0 0, Kilminster 0-0 0-0 0, Comer 0-1 0-0 0, Legg 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Ritter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 34-67 7-13 85.

Halftime — College of Charleston 37-34. 3-point goals — Rhode Island 9-23 (Estevez 3-6, Dubsky 2-3, Kortright 1-3, Wright 1-3, House 1-4, Montgomery 1-4), College of Charleston 10-23 (R.Smith 4-6, Crawford 3-3, Fulton 1-1, Burnham 1-2, Policelli 1-4, London 0-1, Miller 0-1, Rodgers 0-1, Brzovic 0-2, Wol 0-2). Rebounds — Rhode Island 26 (Bilau, Foumena 5), College of Charleston 36 (Burnham, Rodgers, Scott 5). Assists — Rhode Island 11 (Wright 6), College of Charleston 16 (Fulton 5). Total fouls — Rhode Island 14, College of Charleston 10. A — 4,974 (5,100).

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island basketball falls at Charleston, still winless on the road