Robert Morris Preview

BG returns to action tomorrow against Robert Morris--or at least I assume so.  Games are being postponed all over the place and teams are being shut down.  I also assume people will be in the stands, but it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't.

We're going to act like nothing is happening.

They are in the Horizon, where they were picked to be #9.  For reference, Milwaukee, who BG already beat, was #6 and Oakland #1.  Last year was their first season in the Horizon and they went 4-15 and 3-12 and finished last.  Prior to that, they were in the Northeast Conference, the 29th ranked league.  They had success there, winning 20 games in 5 of the last 9 years there.  There are a couple highlights.  In 2013 they shocked Kentucky in a first-round NIT game and in 2015 they won a play-in-game and made the NCAA main field, losing to Duke.

Their coach is Andrew Toole, in his 11th year.  He was the youngest D1 coach when selected and maintains a youthful appearance.

The two teams have played twice. RMU won a 2012 match up in Pittsburgh and BG won by 20 last year, also in Pitts.  This is their first visit to BG.

The Colonials are off to a rough start.  They are 1-8 with no D1 wins.  They have three losses to top 100 teams and three losses to teams ranked 243 or worse, including Milwaukee.  They lost by 14 to OU, one of the top MAC teams to date.

They are scoring .94 points per possession, which is #270 in the country.  Their offensive strength is shooting the 3FG.  They made 36%, which is good.  However, they are selection, taking only 33% of their shots from 3FG (D1 average is 38%).  They are poor on 2FG's and average on turnovers.  However, they are very poor on the offensive boards (#326) and getting to the line (#305) but they are a good FT shooting team.  

Here's an interesting stat.  Over 15% of their 2FG attempts have been blocked.  That is #351 in the country.

They are allowing 1.15 points per possession, which is #346 and really bad.  They are very poor defending the shot, #339 in the country, and that's poor against the 3FG and the 2FG.  They don't force turnovers and are weak on the defensive boards. The only thing they do well is not let teams get to the line.  Because of a lack of depth, they have been playing a zone, which is unusual for them.

They have four players who have started every game, but the fifth spot is spread across three different players, each of whom has missed time as well.  Also, a bench player (Flavors missed the last 5 games, OklahomaState transfer).

Their leading scorer is Kahiel Spear, a 6'7" transfer from Bucknell in his second year with the Colonials. He is scoring 13.7 PPG and 8.3 RPG on 49% shooting, which is not bad.  He played 4 minutes in the game last year.

Rasheem Dunn is scoring 12.6 PPG shooting 40% overall.  He is a 47% 3FG shooting (2 attempts/game)  and leads the team with 39 assists. He began his career at Cleveland State, went to St Francis (NY) and then St. John's and now is at RMU.  

Their other double figure scorer is Kam Farris, who missed the first 4 games of the year.  He is scoring 12 PPG and shooting 60% and 59% from 3FG.  That would lead the nation if he had played in more games.  He is a SO who DNP last year against BG.  

Overall, they have only 3 guys back who played significant minutes.

This is a game BG should win, especially at home.  It is their last D1 game of the year out-of-MAC and you'd like to see a W here.