The 1987–88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team represented the
University of Rhode Island as a member of the
Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...
during the
1987–88 college basketball season. The team was led by second-year head coach
Tom Penders
Thomas Vincent Penders (born May 23, 1945) is an American retired college basketball coach, who last coached from 2004 through 2010 at the University of Houston. He is from Stratford, Connecticut and has a 649–437 career record. As a college ath ...
and played their home games at
Keaney Gymnasium
Keaney Gymnasium is a multi-purpose arena in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States on the campus of the University of Rhode Island. Built in 1953, it was the home of the university's men's and women's basketball teams until they moved to the adj ...
. 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
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
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).
Roster
Schedule and results
, -
!colspan=9 style=, Regular season
, -
!colspan=9 style=,
Atlantic 10 tournament
, -
!colspan=9 style=,
NCAA tournament
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team
Rhode Island
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Rams men's basketball seasons
Rhode
Rhode