UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- No. 21 Rhode Island had its first real test of the season -- and passed.E.C. Matthews hit two late 3-pointers and finished with 18 points in the Rams 76-71 comeback victory over No. 24 Cincinnati on Saturday in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.Kuren Iverson added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Jared Terrell and Hassan Martin each scored 14 points for URI (4-0), which will face top-ranked Duke for the championship Sunday.I was coaching high schl seven years ago, driving vans and mini-cheese buses around, coach Danny Hurley said. Now were nationally ranked and playing Duke for a championship. The premier program in the country that embodies everything youd want in a college program. It kind of means a lotJacob Evans scored 25 points and Kyle Washington had 23 for Cincinnati (2-1).Rhode Island trailed by 12 points and was down 39-31 at halftime, but tk the momentum in the second half.Iverson gave the Rams their first lead with just under 14 minutes remaining, 49-48, with a pair of free throws.But the Bearcats responded by scoring the next six points, and the teams went back-and-forth from there.Matthews 3-pointer from the left corner put Rhode Island up 63-58. His 3-pointer from the other side made it 74-69 with 21 seconds left and the Rams held on to win, despite never leading by more than five points.We practice really hard. The A-10 and our practices prepared us for (the tough game), Terrell said. Everybody has to play defense at a high level. They do the same thing. But when you do it every day, you get used to it.Troy Caupain had seven of his 12 points in the opening minutes; including a jumper that gave the Rams a 14-4 lead. They would stretch that to 24-12 before the Rams began their comeback.Rhode Island cut the lead to 36-31 before a 3-pointer by Washington gave Cincinnati an eight point halftime lead.There was a scary moment in the first half when URI point guard Jarvis Garrett fell hard underneath his teams basket and was taken from the flr on a stretcher.He appeared to hit his head on a cameraman on his way to the ground, snapping his neck back.He lay on the flr being treated for several minutes and was placed in a neck brace before walking under his own power to the stretcher. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation.We did get a text from him, Hurley said. Our guys love for him and love for each other as brothers just caused them to raise their level and want it even more.BIG PICTURECincinnati: The Bearcats were playing what amounted to a road game, just 41 miles from the URI campus. The American Conference pre-season favorites will try to bounce back from their first loss of the season on Sunday.They were the tougher team, said Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin. They taught us a lot about ourselves today and our deficiencies with physical and mental toughness.Rhode Island: Coach Danny Hurleys team outscored its first three opponents by an average of 90-66, but had to show resilience in this one, battling back from a 12-point first half deficit. No. 1 Duke is a handful the Blue Devils will be playing their third game in less than a week on Sunday and are extremely short on depth because of injuries.POLL IMPLICATIONS:Cincinnati may fall out of the Top 25, but shouldnt be hurt much by an early season loss to the nations No. 21 team, as long as they take care of business Sunday against Penn StateRANKING THE WINRhode Island beat a Top 25 opponent for just the second time during Hurleys coaching tenure. The only other win came against No. 21 Nebraska in 2014. The Rams are 15-96 against ranked teams.UP NEXTRhode Island is next in line to take a shot at No. 1 Duke. The Blue Devils remain on top until the new poll is released Monday -- despite losing to Kansas 77-75 on Tuesday. Duke beat Penn State in Saturdays first game.Cincinnati gets the consolation matchup in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off and will play Penn State on Sunday. The Nittany Lions could not manage a second-half run and lost to the Blue Devils 78-68 on Saturday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25Cheap Miami Marlins Jerseys . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. Cheap Jose Fernandez Jersey . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. http://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.com/ . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Cheap Andre Dawson Jersey . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Cheap MLB Jerseys . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons.Its no surprise that one of the most coveted volleyball recruits out of high schl is already an impact player in college.Wisconsins Molly Haggerty makes the game lk easy, though credit for some of that goes to teammate Lauren Carlini and the Badgers coaching staff. The 6-ft-1 freshman outside hitter, the espnW player of the week, averaged 5.88 kills per set last weekend and packed 27 kills into three sets in the Badgers sweep at Texas A&M.Haggerty picked right back up at Texas on Sunday, with 20 more kills, 14 digs and five aces to propel No. 3 Wisconsin past the 2015 national runner-up, which was ranked second at the time. The Badgers (8-1) denied Texas three match points in a 20-18 final set.The gym was very loud, said Haggerty, who has three career double-doubles in her nine collegiate matches. But the whole match, the team was composed and calm. We never really panicked. Being new to this team, it was really cl to see how relaxed we were on the court. That kept us going in the right direction.Playing alongside Carlini, one of the best setters in the game, helps. The two Illinois natives are old friends from their club volleyball days at Sports Performance.Lauren definitely helped expedite Mollys learning curve, Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said.Carlinis ability to be consistently precise with the ball, he said, allows Haggerty to shine.Theres no stop-and-go, he said. Molly can accelerate without hesitation.Haggerty does most things at full velocity. Winning the national championship is a goal of most elite players; Haggerty is determined to win four -- all part of 10 volleyball goals for her collegiate career that she has written down. The others include four Big Ten championships for Wisconsin and winning conference freshman of the year and national frreshman of the year for herself.ddddddddddddAs lofty as that might sound, consider her high schl years. Haggerty led St. Francis High in Wheaton, Illinois, to four state titles, including one her senior year, when the schl moved up in classification from 3A to 4A. Her club team won four AAU national championships. Twice in that span, she earned MVP honors, and twice she earned All-America honors.My freshman year of high schl, the goals I set were winning four state championships, she said. Same thing for college. My goals wont change because I aim high -- not low.Competitiveness is in her nature, whether its her favorite card game, Trash, or enjoying HORSE in the driveway with sisters Meghan and Maddie. All the Haggerty children are Division I athletes. Meghan starred for Nebraska volleyball, and Maddie plays volleyball at Michigan State. Brother Ryan played basketball at Milwaukee.Molly gave a verbal commitment to Nebraska volleyball her sophomore year but decided it wasnt the best fit for her and switched to Wisconsin.Everybodys known who she was since she was very young, Sheffield said. A lot of top-level kids come into college as great athletes, really gd at one or two skills. Shes just a really gd all-around player, whether its attacking, blocking, passing, swinging, defense. The great thing is theres also so much rm for her to grow. Im excited to have four years with her.Haggerty and her unbridled enthusiasm await conference play, which starts this weekend with home games against Ohio State and Maryland.The Big Ten is so strong, she said. Growing up, I always watched the Big Ten, so Im very excited to be playing in it. ' ' '