By BRENDAN McGAIR
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – There were six NBA scouts lined up on the baseline Wednesday night for the annual Ocean State showdown between Providence College and the University of Rhode Island.
There’s no question that representatives from Detroit, Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Memphis, Orlando and Philadelphia left with a boatload of notes concerning URI sophomore E.C. Matthews. For a player who has been mentioned in 2015 NBA mock draft lists since the summer, the youngster from Detroit did little to diminish his status with a game-best 27 points in the Rams’ 68-60 loss to their in-state rivals.
It was clear that Matthews – last season’s Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year – was the best player on the floor.
“He can score in a bunch of ways and was definitely on our scouting report,” said Providence sophomore Kris Dunn, who led his team with 22 points. “He did a lot of good things today.”
Added PC coach Ed Cooley, “E.C. Matthews could be one of the best players we’ve played up until this point. He can score off the bounce and is real good at the rim. He gave us everything we could handle.”
Matthews almost single-handedly kept the Rams in position to make a run to the finish – URI fell behind by 12 points with 7:51 remaining before cutting it to 61-57 with just over a minute remaining. He was the only true threat against PC’s zone defense and ended up shooting 9-of-15 from the field.
“I was trying what the defense was giving me and playing free,” said Matthews, who earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors after URI upset nationally ranked Nebraska on its home floor last month. “
While the Friars had a hard time slowing down Matthews, they did a good job in bottling up his running mates. Hassan Martin was the only other Ram to hit for double figures (12 points on 5-of-9 shooting). Former Rutgers big man Gilvydes Biruta battled foul trouble for much of the night on his way to registering six points and five rebounds in 23 minutes.
Photo: Kim Klement / USA Today Sports
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