Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris Colonials collected a lot of Northeast Conference awards Tuesday --
Marcquise Reed won the NEC Rookie of the Year honor and made the all-rookie team and Reed,
Lucky Jones and
Rodney Pryor all were voted to the All-NEC Second Team -- but their quest for the trophy that is more significant begins tonight.
That's when the second-seeded Colonials play seventh-seeded Wagner in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
The winner of the NEC Tournament, as you know, advances to the NCAA Tournament.
"The ultimate goal of every team as it starts the year is to be part of the NCAA Tournament, and our goal is exactly that,'' RMU coach
Andrew Toole said. "We know it's a difficult challenge to get to the NCAA Tournament, and it starts with a great effort (Wednesday) night. We have to be prepared for Wagner's best effort, for them doing a variety of different things offensively and defensively. We have to make sure that our focus and our intensity is at a high, high level because that's what conference tournament games are.
"You have the non-conference segment of your season, where obviously there's intensity, and then you go into conference play and that intensity gets ratcheted up. Now you step into your conference tournament and that intensity goes up even more. You have to be prepared for that. You can't relax and you can't take a break. You have to be engaged every single second. In my eight years here the number of tournament games we've had that have been double-digit games have been very few. You never know when the play you make or don't make can really impact your ability to continue your season.''
In Toole's previous seven seasons at RMU, three as an assistant under Mike Rice and four as the head coach, the Colonials played 19 NEC Tournament games. Ten were single-digit affairs, in which Robert Morris was 8-2. The Colonials were 14-5 overall, twice advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Hardly anybody questions that the intensity in conference tournament games is elevated over that displayed in regular-season conference games. But why is that?
"I think it's because of the time of the year and what's at stake,'' Toole said. "You have to focus a little bit harder and you have to prepare yourself a little bit better. That gets your juices flowing. That gets you even more engaged in what's going on. It's something that, if you're a competitor and you care about your season and your program, should happen naturally for you because it's March.''
One thing the Colonials have to guard against Wednesday night is that back in February -- six days ago to be exact -- they easily defeated Wagner at the Sewall Center, 91-59. Elevated intensity or not, there's a danger of RMU being a bit over-confident this time.
"We talk about exactly that,'' Toole said. "You have to expect (Wagner's) best. You can't try and fool yourself and think that something that happened last week is going to be the same result this week. Every game is a single entity. We could point to a million games during the course of the year where we've lost and come back and beaten our opponent or we've beaten somebody and they've come back and beaten us, and that goes all across the league. You have to respect each and every game as a single entity and go and prepare yourself properly and play your best.''
Wagner coach Bashir Mason will mention that 91-59 game to his Seahawks, too.
"Any competitor who lost the way we lost that game has to be fired up at the idea of getting another chance," Mason told the
Staten Island Advance. "From a competitive standpoint, you hope for this."
Jones, a senior who's played in eight NEC Tournament games, understands the importance of wiping the slate clean once the regular season ends.
"You have to have a clear mindset,'' he said. "There are eight teams (in the NEC Tournament), and everybody's 0-0. We have to be sure we come with a fresh mindset. Obviously it's not going to be the same kind of game we played against them last Thursday.''
Jones thinks the Colonial defense could be a key element of this game. In the final three regular-season games, Robert Morris held its opponents to an average of 62 points a game in regulation time.
That, of course, includes a very impressive defensive effort against Wagner last Thursday. The Seahawks committed 19 turnovers, which led to 27 Robert Morris points, and shot only 31 percent from the field.
"Going into the game, I thought we had gotten into a rhythm on offense," Mason said. "But they slowed us down. They really got traffic around the ball and swarmed defensively. I thought our guys were tentative."
"I knew we were going to start clicking on the defensive end,'' Jones said. "That's where we get our offense from. We get a lot of our points when we're attacking in transition. Obviously we run set plays in the half-court, but our defense is what ignites us on the offensive end. Defense is going to win championships, and at the end of the day we have enough athleticism to get us there.''
Jones should play an important role for the Colonials Wednesday evening. In the final three-regular season games, he scored a total of 49 points and had 18 rebounds. That was after he missed two games because of injury/suspension.
"After I was out those two games two weeks ago, the only thing I was thinking about was not worrying about how my senior year went as far as personally,'' he said. "I thought about how can I finish on a great note? I don't think I played to my expectations this year, and the only thing I kept thinking about was, 'How can I improve for (the rest of the) games? How can I make winning plays? How can I make senior plays? How can I get back to being the best player I could be?'''
Jones' goal now on the eve of his final NEC Tournament?
"Trying to put my stamp on just being a great defensive player and making sure I help my team get stops and get rebounds,'' he said.
Toole hopes Jones simply continues to do what he did in those final three regular-season games, including his 20-point performance against St. Francis University last Saturday.
"He made some incredible plays late in the game,'' Toole said. "He had some big, big rebounds. Some big defensive plays. Some big free throws. He was in the right spots, where we needed him to be. He was trying to urge his teammates on. He and Rodney did a really good job of trying to keep everybody focused and working and continuing to play through a mistake or a breakdown. It was like, 'Let's move on to the next play and keep playing hard.' That's what you want to see out of your senior at this point in time, and I hope he continues to play like that because when he does we're a much better team.''
Doesn't hurt the Colonials, either, that Pryor finished the regular season shooting lights out.
In his final four games, Pryor scored 102 points and was 37-of-61 from the field, including 16-of-27 from international waters. He seems in a good place with his shot.
"A lot of it is just staying aggressive with my mindset,'' he said. "When I'm hesitant, sometimes my footwork isn't right. And sometimes when I'm going to shoot I'm probably not shot-ready like I need to be. When I'm aggressive-minded, it's more of a balance thing with me, so once I get on balance I feel capable of hitting every shot.''
Mason hopes Seahawk star Marcus Burton, who made the All-NEC First Team, can get back on track during the NEC Tournament.
Burton in his final seven regular-season games averaged 13.7 points per game but was just 33-of-101 from the field, including 7-of-38 from deep. At Robert Morris last Thursday, Burton was 2-of-11 from the floor and scored six points. Then he was scoreless in Wagner's regular-season finale at Mount St. Mary's Saturday.
"The bottom line is we need Marcus to play well and to make big shots to be successful," Mason said. "He is our guy, and that's who he has to be. When he is at a high level, we are a better team."
Reed also has struggled with his shot recently, shooting 35 percent from the field over four games.
"Struggling for him is like 35, 40 percent,'' Toole said. "We've become so accustomed to him shooting 50 percent or better, and when he shoots it really expecting the ball to go in the basket. He's kind of set unreal expectations, so by his standards he's had a couple difficult shooting games, but it's not anything we're concerned about. We want him to continue to remain aggressive and make the plays he feels he can make and read the defenses the way he sees. I think people are really trying to limit his good looks, and it's making it more difficult for him to score. But that also opens up other opportunities for other guys to score.''
Reed has had an incredible freshman season, giving notice early that he could be a force for the Colonials. In his second collegiate game against North Carolina, he scored 24 points.
"I knew if I could do that against a high-major (team) that I could do the same thing in league play,'' Reed said.
He pretty much did.
Reed scored in double figures in 15 of the 18 NEC games. He had six 20-point games, helping him have nine such performances overall, an RMU record for a freshman. He also was named NEC Rookie of the Week six times, another Colonial record. Tuesday he became the third Colonial in 10 seasons to be voted NEC Rookie of the Year. Not to mention making the All-NEC Second Team.
"It's hard to do that as a freshman,'' Reed said, "so that was a bit surprising to me.''
Will Reed feel any extra pressure Wednesday night because of the awards he won Tuesday?
"No,'' he said. "I'm still going to come out and play the same way I've been playing, trying to get this win so we can go to the (NCAA) tournament. Nothing's going to change.''
"It's very cool,'' Toole said of Reed being voted Rookie of the Year. "Obviously it's well deserved. Marcquise has had an outstanding freshman year. He's probably played well beyond the expectations of a freshman. He's been consistent all year long and has been someone we've relied on a great deal.''
In the past eight seasons, the Colonials have won 16 spots on some All-NEC team. Jones owns four of those. He was on the all-rookie team in 2012, made the third team in 2013 and was on the second team the past two seasons.
Winning individual awards, however, is not the end-game.
"I think Lucky, Marcquise and Rodney should be proud of being second-team guys,'' Toole said. "Each of them had great moments and helped us tremendously along the way and have been guys we've relied on all year long. I think all three of them will tell you they're appreciative of being honored as second-team guys.''
But …
"Their goal,'' Toole said, "is to be the best team in the next week or so.''
