A confident E.C. Matthews expected to come back strong after a year off because of a knee injury.

"I think you guys are more surprised than I am," the Rhode Island guard told the media after his 22 points led the No. 21 Rams to a 107-65 blowout of Marist in a Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament game Monday night in Kingston, R.I.

Matthews, who went down 10 minutes into the first game last season, was 9-for-12 from the floor in scoring 21 points in the Rams' season-opening win over Dartmouth on Friday. On Monday, he was 8-for-12 and also grabbed five rebounds as the Rams, who moved up two spots in the rankings Monday, cruised to their second straight win.

It came at the start of a span of four games in seven days, but that is not the story. The Rams host local rival Brown on Wednesday and then move on to the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, where they play No. 24 Cincinnati on Saturday. A win in that one figures to set up a game against No. 1 Duke on Sunday.

Busy stretch, and coach Danny Hurley was glad he was able to keep minutes down Monday night.

"We know this weekend we're going to want these guys in the 30s," he said, talking about the minutes expected to be logged by his top players.

After spotting the Red Foxes a 5-0 lead, the Rams (2-0) ran off an 18-2 spurt and were never in trouble, leading by 25 at the half.

Matthews led five Rams in double figures. Hassan Martin, whose 2015-16 season also ended because of a knee injury, logged his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kuran Iverson and Jared Terrell both scored 14, and Iverson added seven rebounds.

"This is really fun -- just sharing the ball," Terrell said after his team chalked up 21 assists on 35 baskets.

Jarvis Garrett, the one Rams starter not in double figures, finished with nine points and eight assists in the win. Hurley called the point guard "the head of the snake" the coach thinks should be up among the national leaders in assists.

"We played at a pretty high level tonight," Hurley said. "Offensively, I think we were closer to playing at the pace we wanted to play at as far as getting quicker, better shots."

Redshirt senior guard Khallid Hart, who led the Red Foxes with 13 points in their opening loss at Duke, topped them again Monday with 19. Brian Parker scored 18 points. He averaged 15.9 points per game as a freshman last season.

Before facing the Rams, Marist coach Mike Maker told the Poughkeepsie Journal, "They're athletic and tough-minded. We're looking forward to the opportunity, but we have a ways to go. We're learning a lot about ourselves early on."

They learned a bit more Monday night.

NOTES: Andrea Hurley, the wide of URI coach Danny Hurley, was honored at halftime for her role in raising money for cancer research, a cause she undertook after losing her dad to the disease. ... Danny Hurley says Brown's experience and the local rivalry angle makes Wednesday night's game tough -- especially with the busy weekend coming. ... Rhode Island improved to 20-9 all-time as a ranked team. The No. 21 ranking is one spot shy of the program's highest, hit in 1998-99. ... Marist heads into the other Hall of Fame bracket, facing Brown and Grand Canyon over the weekend after hosting Vermont in the Red Foxes' home opener Wednesday night. ... URI F Hassan Martin has 16 career double-doubles, tops among active Atlantic 10 players. His .576 field-goal percentage prior to Monday was No. 1 all time at the school and 14th among active players. He was 3-for-5 Monday.