Game Preview: University of Texas-Arlington vs Robert Morris

Special note, the first 1000 fans get this free poster.
Pretty cool if you ask me.

UT- Arlington (2-3) at Robert Morris (2-2) 
When: Thursday, November 21st, 7pm EST
Where: Moon Twp PA, Charles L Sewall Center
Ken Pom: RMU 154, UT Arlington 238
Story line: Both Robert Morris and Texas Arlington will look get back to the winning ways Thursday night, as both are coming off a loss to the top 5 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. If you didn't read our piece here about the poor home attendance and Velton Jones' take on this, please do so. It's time to #PacktheChuck.
Link: The game should be available to watch via this link: NEC Front Row, but you will all be at the Chuck anyway so this link will be worthless. 

Getting to Know Texas Arlington:

After playing a team with six or seven NBA first round picks, the competition will come back down to earth for the Colonials on Thursday against UTA. It needs to be noted that UTA is also coming off a game against Big Blue Nation --they also got crushed losing 105-76-- so both teams will play competition they are better suited against.

Texas Arlington is off to a bit of a slow start, but when you look at their schedule, you can see why. They beat Samford and a D-II team, so neither win is impressive, but two of their losses have come to UK and Boise State. Those two teams that will be in the top-25 most of the season.

The Colonials must slow down ex-OK State Cowboy,
Reger Dowell (Photo by Stephanie Goddard).

6-1 guard Reger Dowell is the Mavericks top scoring weapon, and let me tell you, he isn't shy about shooting. Dowell is averaging 24.8 points-per-game and has already attempted 50 threes this season. He's made 19 of them (38%) so he can knock them down at a pretty good rate. Dowell is a transfer from Oklahoma State. Anytime you go to a school like that --even if it doesn't work out-- you have some talent.

UTA hasn't been good defensively so
far this season.

Brandon Edwards isn't far behind him at 18.8 ppg and he does his damage at a much more efficient rate. He's 22-28 from inside the arc (good for 78%). He has struggled a bit from downtown, going just 8-26 (30%) so far this season. It would be smart of the Colonials to keep the 6-6 senior out of the paint.


As a team, UTA has been terrible defensively so far. Again, they have played Kentucky --who as we know is loaded-- and Boise State, who is a GREATTTT offensive team, so how much of their bad defensive numbers are due to their tough competition? 

We will see, but I think they are just a bad defensive team. Cleveland State dropped 83 on them, and Samford scored a season high 75 points on the Mavericks.

They are allowing teams to shoot over 45% from three point range (LET IT FLY LUCKY, KARVEL, AND CHUCK). That's good for 335th in all of college basketball at the moment. 

They also don't turn teams over at all, evidence being that 5.5 steal percentage. RMU could really use a nice game from Ant Myers-Pate to help his confidence, and this may be the perfect team to do it against.

For those that don't know KenPom statistics, you never want to have a lot of red in your categories. As you can see from the graphic, UTA has an abundance of red, so the Colonials offense will have a good shot of getting back on track after two bad games against EMU and UK.

(Editor's note: CTC will dive into the Colonials KenPom numbers next week after the UTA game and Cleveland State game Saturday.)

RMU's keys to the game:

Point guard play: We still don't know the exact status of Kavon Stewart. He practiced with the team this week, so maybe he will return back to the lineup (suspension). One thing is for sure, RMU could use him with Myers-Pate in a funk. I want to see Ant be a aggressive early in the game. He has came out tentative the past few games and it's hurt his already lacking confidence. Come out firing number 5. I know he's 1-6 from 2pt range and 0-8 from three, but if he can get back on track --and he will eventually-- the offense will be a lot better off.

As for the backup, I like what David Appolon has done filling in for Stewart. Keep the good play up Dave.

Lucky Jones is off to a slow start. That could change Thursday night.
(Photo: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)

Loaded Luck: Just so you guys know, Lucky Jones is going to have his best game as a Colonial (this season anyway) on Saturday, if he can even play. That's a pretty bold statement given his hip-injury he picked up against Kentucky but all indications are that Luck will be ready to go. He played a very good game against EMU but struggled a bit against Kentucky. CTC believes he will come back with vengeance. He is a tough match-up for a bad defensive team who fouls a lot. Look for Lucky to be aggressive and score 20 plus points.

Home cooking: Here at CTC we haven't been shy about just how good the Colonials are at the Sewall Center (we also haven't been shy about grilling RMU fans for their crappy crowds, so Pack the Chuck). With that said RMU needssssss to win this game. The team plays their next four games on the road, the first two being the toughest of the stretch against Cleveland State and a really good Buffalo team.

You don't want a three game losing stretch heading into the stretch. The Colonials need the win to boost their confidence going into a gauntlet of games away from the friendly confines of Moon Township PA.

Prediction: RMU 83 UTA 70
The Colonials know this is a big game with this tough road stretch approaching. They are a better basketball team on paper, and given their ability to shoot he ball well --and UTA's inability to defend-- the Colonials should pull this one out. One thing to remember, UTA played Tuesday night and had to fly to Pittsburgh Wednesday, and play another game Thursday. That's a quick turnaround that can sometimes be difficult to deal with early in the season.

Enjoy the game, get to the Chuck early for your poster, and cheer on the Colonials.

Also: This is a must watch/read for all #RMCMB fans. A nice ESPN piece on the Colonials. If you were wondering why RMU played UK again, this exposure is the answer. Link: RMU Story

Lee Kunkel (@Kunkel5) --