Moon Township, Pa. – We told you a couple days ago that this Robert Morris team achieved something this season that had never been done in Northeast Conference history -- it's finished .500 or better in conference play for 12 consecutive seasons.
Saturday, these Colonials will try to do something they haven't done
this season. Their game against St. Francis University gives them the opportunity to sweep a two-game home weekend against NEC opposition.
If they achieve that, they'll enter the Northeast Conference Tournament on a bit of a roll, which is always a good thing.
The Colonials Thursday night followed an impressive victory at Bryant last Saturday with a 91-59 wipeout of Wagner that meant Robert Morris will play its NEC Tournament opener Wednesday night in the Charles L. Sewall Center.
"It's always cool when you play at 'The Chuck,''' RMU senior
Lucky Jones said.
Not always. At least not this season. The Colonials are 5-3 in NEC games at home this season compared to 6-3 on the road.
"We've been better at times on the road this season than we've been at home,'' RMU coach
Andrew Toole said. "We have to try to focus on doing the right things each day. I don't think we can think about home or road or opponent. A lot of our issues start and end with us. A lot of our positives have started and ended with us. I think that's what we have to focus on each and every day -- making the right decisions about what we know the right plays are, what we know the right things are, what we know the right attitudes are and then hoping for the best from there.''
Toole knows enough about this bunch of Colonials that it would be imprudent to get carried away by a modest two-game winning streak. Or by a truly dominating performance against Wagner. Or by any talk of the Colonials at long last having hit their stride.
"You play one good game and everyone wants to talk about you hitting your stride,'' he said. "I think you have to prove you can do that over a consistent period. Obviously you like the way we played (at Bryant) and the way we played (against Wagner). Those are positive signs, but we've put a couple games together already this year and then we're right back to square one. So I think it's important that we really focus on preparing ourselves for Saturday and going from there.''
Taking things one game at a time is a cliche, of course. But it's been a nagging characteristic of this team. A win in one game -- or two -- hasn't guaranteed anything long-term.
Maybe, for the final time, this is the time it could.
"Defense wins championships, right?'' Jones said. "We're trying to prepare ourselves for the postseason.''
"Tonight was a key component in what we want to do later,'' freshman Marquise Reed said as he anticipates his first collegiate postseason.
"This is when we need to make sure we're crisp,'' Jones said. "We need to make sure everybody's doing their role to the best of their ability. One of the key components of that is that we have people who don't care who's making shots. They play hard. They get deflections. They're where there supposed to be at all times. That's what a team is. And that's what Robert Morris hangs its hat on -- this year especially.''
The Colonials usually hang their hats on defense, and they certainly did that against the Seahawks.
Wagner shot only 31.1 percent, including 28.7 percent inside the arc. Senior Marcus Burton, who leads the NEC in scoring with an average of 21 points per game in league games, scored just six points and was 2-of-11 from the floor.
"He's been shooting bad lately, so we tried not to let this game get him back to where he's been,'' Jones said. "Just showing aggressive hands and making it difficult for him to score. Obviously he's their main piece. When he's going, their team is going, so we were just trying to eliminate him from their offensive scheme. That's what we did.''
"I think we only gave him a couple clean looks,'' Toole said. "Obviously he's the guy at the top of our scouting report, and we didn't want to give opportunities to him. I thought we did a good job of making him take tough shots, not allowing him to get good looks from three to get him started.''
The Seahawks as a team never got started offensively against RMU's zone.
"They play zone, but they're not sitting back letting you pass the ball around," Wagner coach Bashir Mason told the
Staten Island Advance. "They do a great job of shutting down lanes and collapsing on the ball and forcing mistakes."
Wagner had 19 turnovers, which resulted in 27 Colonial points.
"Playing with more energy and effort helped us a lot,'' said
Rodney Pryor, who scored a game-high 25 points and added six assists. "We got a spark on the defensive end and were able to get out in transition a lot. Guys were hitting shots early. When you see the ball go in early, guys start feeling good. That's where the energy came from.''
"We were definitely urgent and alert early in the game,'' Toole said. "We talked about as soon as the ball went up (being) ready to compete and that we were urgent and alert and that we had some focus. We were able to create some easy opportunities off our defense, and a lot of those turnovers came from just being in the right spot and not really trying to create a steal, just trying to make the right decision that the game asks you to make. We definitely did a nice job on the defensive end to start the game, and I thought we did a very good job to start the second half defensively. If that was what allowed us to keep it rolling on offense, we should remember that and try to do it again Saturday.''
Robert Morris too often has begun second halves sluggish, but it didn't do that against Wagner.
In the first five minutes following intermission, RMU's halftime lead of 44-29 ballooned to a 58-34 cushion.
"We know we've had sluggish starts going into the second half,'' Pryor said, "so we wanted to get off to a good start with energy and effort. We just have to bring more effort on the defensive end and make it more important.''
Pryor's offensive burst continued his recent hot trend. He was 7-of-10 from the field and made five of his six launches from international waters.
In his three-game surge, Pryor has scored 80 points, shot 28-of-41 from the field and drained 12-of his-17 shots from deep.
It would serve the Colonials well Saturday if Pryor can continue that. In RMU's 66-59 loss at St. Francis Jan. 5, he was 4-of-14 from the field, missed all six of his shots from beyond the arc and scored only eight points.
"I think mentally and physically I'm where I need to be,'' Pryor said. "I'm shooting the ball well. Guys are finding me. I'm getting open looks. When I see the ball go in, it just raises my confidence. I just have to make sure I'm staying aggressive.''
The Colonials' 54.1 percent accuracy against Wagner continued another positive trend. In their past six games, they've shot just a squinch under 50 percent from the field (166-of-333).
"I think we're taking high-percentage shots for the most part,'' Toole said. "Rodney has had something to do with that with the way he's shot the ball. I think we've had pretty good ball movement, body movement, and I think when you do that you can find really good shots. We have a number of guys who can make some shots, so I think the defense has to respect all those people. When that happens, you're able to find high-percentage shots. If your team is OK with just making sure we get the best team shot, then usually you can shoot a high percentage.''
"During practice now we spend a segment on just getting shots up,'' Jones said. "Game-type shots. Competition shots. Guys are feeling more comfortable on the court.''
Jones had his second straight solid game -- 15 points, a team-high eight rebounds.
"The last two games, he's really played within himself,'' Toole said. "I think that's been great. I think maybe it allows him to relax when he goes into the game coming off the bench and just do what he's supposed to do. When he plays the way he did tonight, when he plays the way he did Saturday (at Bryant), he's one of the best players in our league. I think sometimes when he tries to do too much he gets himself in a little bit of trouble. His communication to his teammates the last two games has been terrific. I think his shot selection's been very good and you see some of the effort plays -- a couple of the offensive rebounds he got tonight -- that's vintage Luck. We haven't necessarily seen that all year long, and it will be nice to see for the rest of the way out.''
Reed scored 20 points, setting another RMU record. His nine 20-point games are the most by a freshman. Myron Walker had eight in 1990-91.
Freshman
Elijah Minnie tied a career-high with 13 points and grabbed five rebounds.
"It was a great night for us offensively and defensively,'' Jones said. "We played well. We shared the ball. Our main key was to make the extra pass and play unselfishly, and I believe we did that.''
That they did. The Colonials had 21 assists on their 33 field goals.
"One of our more complete games offensively and defensively of the year,'' Toole said. "I thought we did a great job coming out for the second half and having the same urgency that in past games we haven't had. Hopefully that's a good sign moving forward. I thought our guys handled themselves well. When your offense is going like it was tonight I think it's a little bit easier to play, but regardless I thought we did a great job. It was a game we needed, so I'm glad the guys were able to come out and perform.''
Mason's take?
"We didn't do any of the things you have to do to win a basketball game," he said. "Mostly, we didn't defend and we didn't take care of the ball."
