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 in VCU.
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, each producing key performances off the bench in No. 22 URI’s 81-68 victory.
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 Philadelphia public high school court 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.
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 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.
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
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25