The NCAA Tournament is finally upon us and Thursday’s Oklahoma vs Rhode Island game could be one of the best matchups of round one.
When the season began, no one was even looking at Oklahoma as a threat in the Big 12. The Sooners were a young team with a true freshman point guard in Trae Young who not many outside of Norman knew about. He changed that in a hurry as the Sooners raced out to a 14-2 start to the year.
However, the Sooners have since dropped off, going just 4-11 in their last 15 games as Young has struggled a bit during that stretch as well. They shockingly made it into the NCAA Tournament despite an 8-10 record in Big 12 play, but will face a tough 7-seed in Rhode Island.
The Rams, on the other hand, began the season just 5-3 despite having high expectations, but then went on to win 16 games in a row. They finished the year by going 4-4 in the final eight games, concluding the regular season with an Atlantic 10 Tournament loss to Davidson.
Jared Terrell and E.C. Matthews are a lethal backcourt duo and combine to average about 30 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The latter missed time with injury, but sparked the Rams when he returned to the lineup and Terrell shoots over 41 percent from 3-point range. This game could feature an epic battle at the guard position.
Here’s how you can watch Thursday’s Oklahoma vs Rhode Island game online:
Date: Thursday, March 15
Time: 12:15 p.m. ET
Location: Pittsburgh, Penn.
Venue: PPG Paints Arena
TV: CBS
Live Stream: CBS Sports Live, NCAA March Madness Live
Next: NCAA Tournament 2018: First round tip times, TV schedule
Although many believe Oklahoma shouldn’t have made the NCAA Tournament, the Sooners are going to be an intriguing team to watch, but Rhode Island won’t go down easily.