Rhode Island outlasts Oklahoma in overtime in NCAA Tournament

PITTSBURGH — Rhode Island’s E.C. Matthews is the first to tell you that not everyone stays around college basketball for four years, let alone five, as he has. Among the many things he has learned in that time was what he shared Thursday afternoon: “Older guys, you know, we tend to win games.”

They won this one, very memorably.

In the first game of the first round of the NCAA Tournament, veteran-filled Rhode Island was poised and savvy at all the key moments and beat Oklahoma, 83-78, in overtime.

The winners shook off the disappointment of seeing Stanford Robinson’s tip roll off the rim at the buzzer in regulation. And they withstood a surge by someone on the opposite end of the experience spectrum, Oklahoma freshman Trae Young, who brought his team back in the second half on the way to a game-high 28 points.

“We’re old. We’re old as hell. That means we’re wise,” said Matthews, 22, who made the two pivotal shots of the game — a three-pointer that gave the Rams (26-7) their first lead in overtime at 74-72 and another three that put it out of reach at 79-74.

“We’ve played in a lot of games, been in a lot of tough games,” said the guard who missed all but one game of the 2015-16 season and was granted another year of eligibility. He has been part of a core — along with fellow seniors Robinson and Andre Berry — to have helped the program blossom under coach Danny Hurley.

Players said that, as odd as it might sound, the animated coach was steady in huddles. “He is calm,” said Berry, who is from West Hempstead and played at Malverne. “He gives us the game plan, he does what he does and he trusts us to go out and perform.”

This time, that featured intense defense against Young, who might have played the final game in a brief college career. The nation’s leading scorer and assist-maker is considered by many a classic one-and-done star player for Oklahoma (18-14). “This season was a roller coaster: Starting off hot, cooling down, winning a few games and going back to losing,” he said, adding that he will sit down with his family this week and discuss the near future.

Not that everyone on Rhode Island was a graybeard, needing a nap. For stretches of the second half, freshman Fatts Russell controlled the action. “I wouldn’t say I’m a momentum guy but when the crowd is hyped, I try to get hyped with them,” he said after his 15-point game.

Hurley said, “I told him when I recruited him the only guard I saw better than him at the Peach Jam last year was Trae Young. And he told me I was wrong about that and he was going to prove me wrong today. He put on a show.”

All of the Rams found it to be quite a stage. Said Berry: “The whole world is watching March Madness. We had the first game and it was a lot of fun.”

Matthews added, “It’s what you dream about when you’re a little kid, playing basketball outside.”

Even at his ripe old age, he still can remember back that far.