Rhode Island Rams at Providence Friars

Providence beats No. 21 Rhode Island 63-60

He didn't see this coming, though.

Kyron Cartwright, who had made four 3-pointers all season, hit four of five from beyond the arc in the first half. The Providence point guard finished with 19 points and eight assists to lead the Friars to a 63-60 victory over No. 21 Rhode Island on Saturday.

Rodney Bullock scored 17 points for the Friars (6-2). Cartwright had 15 in the first half and Jalen Lindsey scored nine of his 13 points in the second, five during a 7-0 run that erased a seven-point deficit.

"My teammates were telling me, `You need to take those shots to open up the defense," Cartwright said. "(And) we don't shoot the ball to not make it."

Hassan Martin had 14 points and 17 rebounds for Rhode Island (5-3), which lost at unranked Valparaiso and Providence a week after falling to No. 1 Duke. E.C. Matthews scored nine points and went 1 for 8 from 3-point range, airballing a 3 with 2 seconds left with a chance for the Rams to tie it.

"Games like this might help us down the stretch," Martin said. `'So you just tell everybody to keep their head up."

The Rams led 47-40 with 12:15 left when Cartwright's arm appeared to catch Christion Thompson in the left eye. Thompson went to the court, flailing his arms in the air looking for a call, but the teams played on until Lindsey hit a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game at 11:00.

Lindsey's free throws brought the Friars within two points, and Ryan Fazekas scored on a fast-break goaltending call to tie it. From there, there were three more ties and kept the game within one possession until Lindsey hit a fallaway jumper with 43 seconds left to give Providence a 59-55 lead.

"We beat a tournament team today," Providence coach Ed Cooley said.

POLL IMPLICATONS

It will be difficult for Rhode Island to stay in The Associated Press Top 25 after its stumbles.

Hurley said he isn't concerned.

The goal at the beginning of the season was to win the Atlantic 10 and play in the NCAA Tournament.

That's all still in play.

"We expect to have a long and great season. Nothing's changed for us," he said. "We lost two tough road games in a long season."

BULLOCK'S BOUNCE-BACK

Bullock scored a career-high 36 points against New Hampshire on Wednesday, but he missed all three shots from the field in the first half and had only three points on six free throws at the break.

Cooley told him not to worry about the shooting and to try to make something happen with rebounding or defense.

"Somebody coming of a great scoring game like he did there's going to be a lot of attention on him," Cooley said. "I thought he showed some definite grit in the second half."

TIP-INS

Rhode Island: Martin hit all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half. ... Martin surpassed the 1,000-point milestone against Valparaiso on Tuesday. ... The Rams have lost nine straight to Big East teams.

Providence: The Friars lead the all-time series 73-56, including a buzzer-beating victory last year in Kingston. ... They are 1-1 against ranked teams this season, having lost to then-No. 7 Virginia on Nov. 26.

UP NEXT

Rhode Island: Hosts Old Dominion on Tuesday.

Providence: Hosts Brown on Tuesday.

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More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25.

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