When: Tuesday, November 26th, 7pm
Where: Alumni Arena, Buffalo NY
Ken Pom: RMU 173, Buffalo197
Story line: After a tough road loss Saturday to Cleveland State, the Colonials stay on the road to take on MAC opponent Buffalo. The Bulls have had ten days to prepare for this game, and will be a tough matchup for Robert Morris.
Link: Colonial fans should be able to watch the game free of charge by clicking here.
Getting to know the Buffalo Bulls:
The Bulls may not be legends in the college basketball world, but they are lead by a legend. Bobby Hurley, arguably the best Duke Blue Devil of all time, is in his first year as the Bulls head coach.
Buffalo came out of the gate slow this year, losing their opener at Texas A&M, then dropping a game at Niagara. While neither loss is terrible (not many road losses are terrible) it was surprising to see a team many expect to contend for the MAC title this year get off to such a slow start.
The Bulls did bounce back to win their home opener, but that was against West Virginia Wesleyan, a D II school.
Senior forward Javon McCrea is the unquestioned leader --in terms of production-- for the Bulls. At 6-7, McCrea is averaging 21 points-per-game, 11 rebounds-per-game --both first on the team-- and is shooting 51 percent from the field. He is a beast.
The senior has been used on 36 percent of possessions when on the floor this year, that's good for fourth in the nation is percent-of-possessions used according to KenPom. he also draws 12.2 fouls per-40 minutes. That's good for second in the country at the moment (it is very early). This could be a major problem for a Colonials team that has had problems with foul trouble.
Freshman guard Josh Freelove is off to a fast start as well, averaging 13 points-per-game while shooting 51 percent from the field.
Keys to the Game:
D-Fense, defense, D- (insert fense sign): Put it anyway you want to, the Colonials have got to find their defense. This is a program that was one of the best in the country over the past 6-7 years on that side of the court, and right now they can't stop anybody.
There is no reason to panic yet, after all the team is breaking in a bunch of new guys, replacing some of the best players that have ever worn the RMU uniform, and adjusting to new defensive rules that take away a lot of what RMU does on that side of the ball. Right now RMU is giving up 106.9 points-per-100 possessions. That is way over last years mark of 101.3.
RMU is scoring enough to win 25 games and contend for an NEC title, but that won't happen if they can't get stops.
Fouls: If the Colonials can cut down on the fouls, they may solve the above problem. Listen, with the new foul rules, you CANNOT commit silly reaching/blocking fouls or you will have no chance to get stops.
On Saturday, RMU allowed Cleveland State to attempt 44 free throws, they made 34 of them. 34 points, just given to them. Eastern Michigan also shot over 40 free throws.
It's no surprise RMU lost both of those games.
Back to Saturday. The Vikings grabbed an 18 point lead and were in the 1-and-1 bonus with 15 minutes to go in the game. It's almost impossible to comeback in that situation.
The hand checks and blocking fouls are going to get called this year. It's almost impossible to draw a charge now, and you can't put your hands on anyone, but everyone knew that would be the case this year. Because of that, you can't commit the silly dumb fouls. They hurt you 10 times more this year.
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| Worthem had his best game Saturday (RMU Athletics). |
Growth: Jeremiah Worthem played his best game of his young career Saturday, finishing with 16 points and 5 rebounds. He was an absolute tank on the block. If he keeps that up, he will be the starting power forward --or maybe more importantly-- and end of game power forward very soon.
Worthem was aggressive, getting to line 12 times --knocking down seven of his attempts-- and drilled his only three point attempt.
Fellow freshman Kavon Stewart should be back in action (more on that later) and it will be interesting to track the development of the two youngest contributors along with those JuCo transfers.
#MACtion: The Colonials continue their tour of the MAC Tuesday, once again taking on a team expected to contend for the Mid American Conference title.
RMU lost their first game against the conference when they fell to Eastern Michigan in the Keightley Classic. The Colonials will also take on a really good Toledo squad in a few weeks at the Sewall Center. The Rockets already have two great wins over Boston College and Stoney Brook.
Tuesday's game at Buffalo will provide a nice challenge for a team that needs these obstacles as they attempt to find themselves and figure out roles.
Personnel Update: Kavon Stewart should return to the lineup which should provide a huge boost. The freshman point guards hasn't played since the opener (suspension) and should provided some quality minutes as the backup point, allowing David Appolon to move back to the wing.
While RMU may get his services back, they could be without starting center Mike McFadden.
The senior missed the whole second half on Saturday against Cleveland State to what appeared to be an undisclosed injury (he was on the bench the whole half cheering his team on).
If McFadden can't go Stephen Hawkins should get the start in his place. CTC hopes to get an answer on this before tip.
UPDATE: CTC spoke with McFadden Monday afternoon, and he has told us he will play against Buffalo. This is obviously good news for RMU.
Prediction: I could sit here and tell you that RMU should be favorites in this game and that all is good, but that would be a lie.
McFadden playing is huge, but the team is still struggling to get stops, and Buffalo has had 10 days to prepare for this game.
RMU has really struggled with quick turnarounds this season --loss to EMU, UK, and Cleveland State-- and oh yea, it's a road game which are always difficult.
KenPom gives RMU a 39 percent chance of winning, and predicts the score to be 77-74. I think that is pretty accurate.
If RMU wants to win this game, they have got to find away to tighten the D. Will they? We shall see.
CTC hopes to speak with Andy Toole before tip-off and get an update on the McFadden plus Toole's thoughts on the slow start defensively. Check back for that.
Lee Kunkel (@Kunkel5) --
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