E. Michigan-Rhode Island Preview

For the first time in nine years, Rhode Island is in the Top 25.

The 25th-ranked Rams look to match their best start from the past 60 years Friday when they meet Eastern Michigan in the Islander Invitational at Corpus Christi, Texas.

Rhode Island (11-1) is part of what appears to be a stronger Atlantic 10 Conference this season. A six-game winning streak has lifted the Rams to their first national ranking since November 1998.

They are off to the program's best start since the 1991-92 team began 12-1, which equals the best start by any Rhode Island squad since a 16-1 opening in 1946-47.

The Rams have already posted wins over Big East opponents Providence and Syracuse, and their only loss came at Boston College by four points on Nov. 21.

Despite that success, coach Jim Baron doesn't believe his team is the favorite in the Atlantic 10, which has posted a number of quality wins early this season. Dayton has beaten Louisville, Massachusetts has defeated Boston College and Syracuse while Xavier has knocked off Indiana.

"I don't think you can put the cart before the horse," Baron said. "We're still working to get better."

The Rams are in search of their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999, when they were led by Lamar Odom. They came up one game short last season, losing to George Washington in the championship of the Atlantic 10 tournament to cap a 22-10 campaign.

"We're kind of carrying that over to this year from last year," Baron said.

Senior forward Will Daniels averages 18.3 points to lead the way for Rhode Island. He's already the first player in school history to earn conference player of the week honors three times in a season.

Daniels had 22 points and 16 rebounds in Saturday's 88-69 win over Hofstra. Kahiem Seawright added 18 points and 13 boards in the Rams' first game in exactly two weeks.

"We were excited to get out on the floor," Seawright said. "We were rusty -- anyone would be after two weeks off -- but we buckled down on defense and that was the key."

The Rams' top perimeter player is Jimmy Baron Jr., the son of the coach. The guard is second on the team with 15.4 points per game while shooting nearly 46 percent on 3-pointers.

Eastern Michigan (4-5) will face an Atlantic 10 opponent for the second straight game after a 58-55 loss at Temple on Saturday. Carlos Medlock had 19 points for the Eagles, who were playing for the first time since Dec. 4.

Medlock is ninth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring at 13.9 points per game and second in assists with 4.6 per game.

The teams are meeting for the first time since Rhode Island won 79-68 on Dec. 30, 1998.

The winner will face Georgia Southern or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Saturday's championship. The losers meet in the consolation game.