RICHMOND, Va. --- Make it a complete box set of Atlantic 10 road victories for Dan Hurley during his University of Rhode Island tenure.
Siegel Center was the 13th and final place where his Rams had yet to win during his six-year reign, home of the league’s power program when he was hired prior to the 2012-13 season.
It was a different set of Rams forcing an unfamiliar reaction from the 7,637 fans who jammed one of the conference’s most passionate venues on Friday night, as the visitors entered their bye week with their lengthy winning streaks still intact.
The depth Hurley has built on his roster was in evidence through Cyril Langevine and Fatts Russell, with each underclassman producing a key performance off the bench in No. 22 URI’s 81-68 victory over VCU.
Langevine looked like the breakout player who missed a double-double by a shade against Oregon in last year’s NCAA Tournament, piling up 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in a monster double-double. Russell was unflappable in his first visit to this building, looking as comfortable as he would on a public high school court in his native Philadelphia by joining four players in double figures with 11 points. The fact that E.C. Matthews and Jared Terrell combined for just three second-half field goals mattered little, as URI won this one going away.
“I thought we were really, really sharp, particularly with our passing,” Hurley said. “We’re just a veteran team that took advantage in the second half of our experience.”
The visiting Rams are off until Friday, a well-deserved rest after their 14th straight victory overall. URI (19-3, 11-0) has now defeated 19 straight conference foes and won 11 in a row in league play away from Kingston. Only two remaining games with Davidson and a road trip to St. Bonaventure appear to stand in the way of the Rams and their first regular season conference title since joining the league almost four decades ago.
“We’ve been through the fire,” Matthews said. “We felt very confident. We knew it was going to be a big test, but we enjoyed it.”
Langevine’s fifth offensive board and 15th rebound of the night led to a putback that made it 64-54 with 8:19 left, URI’s largest lead to that point. Only Kuran Iverson (23), Kahiem Seawright (19), Jonathan Holton (18) and Hassan Martin (18) have had as many rebounds in a game for URI in the last two decades, as Langevine helped his club to a 47-31 advantage on the glass and a 26-6 gap in second-chance points.
“Coming from New Jersey, it’s just different,” Langevine said. “You’re used to the atmosphere going to St. Patrick’s (his alma mater). I was used to it coming out. I just wanted to come out and play.”
Russell delivered just his second double-digit scoring game in conference play to date, closing 3-for-5 from 3-point range. One of those makes from deep pushed URI to a 69-58 advantage with 6:20 to play, and VCU never came within seven points the rest of the way.
“I just thrive in a situation like this,” Russell said. “It’s just who I’ve been all my life.”
VCU (14-9, 6-4) maintained contact in the first half through two players at opposing ends of their respective careers. Freshman forward Sean Mobley totaled all of his career-high 15 points on a sizzling display from deep, knocking down four 3-pointers. Senior forward Justin Tillman was his usual dominant self, racking up 12 of his game-high 22 points.
URI now has a full week until its next game, a home matchup with the Wildcats that could see them build a four-game lead in the loss column atop the standings. The wear and tear of being the hunted was apparent as its players left the building on Friday, with Matthews icing his right knee and Stanford Robinson battling general soreness after compiling a line that included nine points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals.
“We’re going to get a chance to get some rest, recharge our batteries and get a couple days where we can work on some things that you don’t get a chance to work on when you’re playing game on top of game,” Hurley said. “These guys deserve a break.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25