# 1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team represented the University of Rhode Island as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference during the 1987–88 college basketball season. The team was led by second-year head coach Tom Penders and played their home games at Keaney Gymnasium. They finished the season 28–7, 14–4 in A-10 play and lost in the championship game of the 1988 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament. Rhode Island was invited to the 1988 NCAA tournament as No. 11 seed in the East region and make the school's first run to the Sweet Sixteen. In the opening round, they upset No. 6 seed Missouri, and followed that by knocking off No. 3 seed Syracuse in the round of 32. In the East regional semifinal, the Rams narrowly lost to Duke, 73–72. To date, this season marks one of only two appearances by the Rams in the Sweet Sixteen of an NCAA Tournament (1998).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 27, 1987* | | vs. The Citadel Investors Classic | W 113–85 | 1–0 | University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Nov 28, 1987* | | at Virginia Investors Classic | W 76–73 | 2–0 | University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Dec 1, 1987* | | at New Hampshire | W 96–67 | 3–0 | Lundholm Gym Durham, New Hampshire |
| Dec 9, 1987* | | Northeastern | W 95–81 | 4–0 | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Dec 12, 1987 | | at No. 11 Temple | L 66–75 | 4–1 (0–1) | McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 19, 1987* | | at Providence | W 92–70 | 5–1 | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| Dec 23, 1987* | | at San Diego State | W 77–76 $^{OT}$ | 6–1 | San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California |
| Dec 26, 1987* | | at U.S. International | W 101–90 | 7–1 | The Pavilion San Diego, California |
| Dec 30, 1987* | | vs. Fordham Chaminade Tournament | L 53–59 | 7–2 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Dec 31, 1987* | | vs. Manhattan Chaminade Tournament | W 94–80 | 8–2 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Jan 1, 1988* | | vs. BYU-Hawaii | W 94–80 | 9–2 | George Q. Cannon Activities Center Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Jan 7, 1988 | | Penn State | W 83–80 | 10–2 (1–1) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Jan 9, 1988 | | at Saint Joseph's | W 99–80 | 11–2 (2–1) | Hagan Arena Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 12, 1988* | | at Brown | W 104–91 | 12–2 | Marvel Gymnasium Providence, Rhode Island |
| Jan 16, 1988 | | at Rutgers | W 84–71 | 13–2 (3–1) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Jan 18, 1988 | | at George Washington | W 92–61 | 14–2 (4–1) | Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C. |
| Jan 23, 1988 | | Saint Joseph's | W 91–85 | 15–2 (5–1) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Jan 26, 1988 | | at UMass | W 101–78 | 16–2 (6–1) | Curry Hicks Cage Amherst, Massachusetts |
| Jan 28, 1988* | | vs. George Washington | W 84–76 $^{OT}$ | 17–2 (7–1) | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| Jan 31, 1988 | | No. 6 Temple | L 70–77 | 17–3 (7–2) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 4, 1988 | | vs. Rutgers | W 111–92 | 18–3 (8–2) | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| Feb 7, 1988 | | at West Virginia | W 74–71 | 19–3 (9–2) | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia |
| Feb 9, 1988 | | at Duquesne | L 93–98 | 19–4 (9–3) | Civic Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 13, 1988 | | St. Bonaventure | W 93–73 | 20–4 (10–3) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 18, 1988 | | Duquesne | L 89–100 | 20–5 (10–4) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 20, 1988 | | vs. West Virginia | W 75–60 | 21–5 (11–4) | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Feb 25, 1988 | | at Penn State | W 77–69 | 22–5 (12–4) | Rec Hall University Park, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 27, 1988 | | at St. Bonaventure | W 93–79 | 23–5 (13–4) | Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York |
| Mar 2, 1988 | | UMass | W 87–73 | 24–5 (14–4) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Atlantic 10 tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 1988* | | vs. Rutgers Quarterfinals | W 104–73 | 25–5 | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia |
| Mar 8, 1988* | | at West Virginia Semifinals | W 65–63 | 26–5 | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia |
| Mar 9, 1988* | | vs. No. 1 Temple Championship game | L 63–68 | 26–6 | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 1988* | (11 E) | vs. (6 E) Missouri First round | W 87–80 | 27–6 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Mar 19, 1988* | (11 E) | vs. (3 E) No. 9 Syracuse Second round | W 97–94 | 28–6 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Mar 24, 1988* CBS | (11 E) | vs. (2 E) No. 5 Duke East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | L 72–73 | 28–7 | Brendan Byrne Arena (19,591) East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in EST. ||||||