Rhode Island hasn’t lost in over a month. It keeps going in NCAA tournament

Rhode Island basketball’s “upset” win over the Creighton Bluejays in the opening round of the NCAA tournament was anything but.

The Rams are red-hot, winning nine straight games since Feb. 18, including six by double digits. They were a popular bracket pick, catching a slight break against a Creighton team without its best player, Maurice Watson, who tore his ACL in January. But they not only beat the Bluejays, they won handily by 12, and somehow they’re suddenly recognized as a dangerous team after an ice-cold 10-6 start to the season.

This didn’t happen overnight.

Dan Hurley built this team

In 2012, Hurley took over for a 7-24 team and improved in his first season to 8-21. The beginning was tough.

But two seasons later, he flipped the script in a 23-10 season. Though he didn’t make the NCAA tournament, he wasn’t far — especially with sophomore guard E.C. Matthews, a four-star recruit who barely cracked the top 100, budding into a star.

The 2015-16 season was supposed to beak the Rams’ tournament drought since 1998. Devastatingly, Matthews tore his ACL in the first 10 minutes of the season, and Rhode Island never recovered.

The re-emergence of E.C. Matthews

A scoring guard who began attracting NBA attention as a freshman, Matthews made his name as a scorer. He was never incredibly efficient, but he’s improved, scoring 15 points on 43 percent shooting, including 34 percent from deep. He only shot 3-of-12 from the field in the win over Creighton, but that didn’t seem to matter. All four other starters scored in double digits as well.

He has support this time around.

Hassan Martin has been key

The senior forward with a 7’2 wingspan is a problem on defense. Martin anchors a talented unit, sporting the team’s best defensive rating and a monstrous 2.5 blocks per game, good for the ninth-best rating in the country.

He’s also scoring 14 points on an incredibly efficient 60 percent effective field-goal rate, and pulling down seven rebounds.

He’s been a solid piece for Rhode Island for four years but has never been used at a higher rate than now — and he’s thriving.

What’s next

Rhode Island’s beaten tournament teams in Cincinnati and VCU (twice) in the regular season. With a Chris Boucher-less Oregon matchup in the Round of 32, it could survive another weekend.

Ken Pomeroy’s metrics rank the Rams No. 32 in the nation, above their No. 11 seeding, mostly because of their defensive consistency. They own the league’s second-best block rate and hold opponents to 45 percent effective field-goal shooting — ninth in the nation.

With its pieces healthy and peaking, Rhode Island is in as good of shape as ever to repeat its 1998 Elite Eight run. For now, the Rams will have to play the underdog role one round at a time.