When: Thursday, January 16th, 7pm
Where: Sewall Center, Moon Township PA
KenPom: RMU 157, SFPA 333
Storyline: The Colonials look to continue to ride the hot hand of Karvel Anderson as they host local "rival" St Francis PA and move their NEC record to a perfect 3-0 before a tough road game this weekend at Mount St Mary's.
Rival is geographic terms only:
 |
| McFadden and the Colonials have dominated the recent series over SFPA. (Don Wright/AP) |
It's hard to consider this a rivalry game. Sure the schools are geographically close to each other, but that is about it. Robert Morris has dominated this series, winning eleven in a row. The Red Flash last got a win in the first matchup of the 07-08 season. That's 11 wins in the past 12 games for the Colonials. Nobody on the RMU coaching staff or roster has ever lost to St Francis PA.
If this is still a rivalry, it's a one sided one.
As for the Red Flash this season, it's once again been a rough ride. They currently sit at 3-12, which is actually an improvement on where they were at last season at this point in the season.
They are coming off one of their better performances of the season last Saturday, a 75-67 win over Central Connecticut. While the Blue Devils have had their problems with injuries and suspensions, it was still a nice win for a young St Francis team.
Earl Brown is without a doubt the teams best weapon. Brown is a stat sheet stuffer, who can score in a variety of ways. He's averaging 14 points-per-game and 10 rebounds-per-game. Any time a guy averages a double-double, you know he is a baller.
 |
| Earl Brown and SFPA look to get their first win over RMU since 2007. |
The Flash simply have not develop many other weapons on either end of the court.
On offense, the Red Flash are one of the worst teams in the country. They're only scoring 93.3 points-per-100 possessions. That's 336th in all of college basketball in adjusted offensive efficiency. In layman's terms, "they stink."
The defense is much better. They're giving up 110.1 points-per-100 possessions, again a subpar 284th in college basketball.
RMU is scoring 107.4-points-per-100 possessions, and Anderson has dropped 30-plus in each of his last two games. St Francis could be in some trouble.
Malik Harmon, Ben Millaud-Meunier and Stephon Mosley all have their moments. If that trio can find some consistency they could give the Colonials a bigger headache than expected.
Harmon, only a freshman, is the guy to watch. He's got a lot of talent, and in one of the better newcomers in the NEC. Going against Ant Myers-Pate will be a good test for the youngster.
Stay focused: This is a bit of a trap game, if RMU overlooks the Flash. They earned a really big win at Bryant this past weekend, and have a huge game Saturday at Mount. This is their first home game it what seems like forever, so that should help avoid a letdown. If they do overlook the Flash, they will be in for a fight.
Stay Hot, Get Hot: As mentioned above, senior guard Karvel Anderson has scored 30-plus in back-to-back road games. He now comes home to the comforts of the Charles L. Sewall Center, where he has always shot his best. Look for him to stay hot.
Check his Interview here in the NEC Google Hangout.
Myers-Pate has also played his best ball as of late. He really got after it on the road trip, and has found some confidence in his jumper. It's all between the ears with Ant, and right now he has that self belief. It's showing, with 48 assists, and only 11 turnovers in his last nine games, per Craig Meyer. He's the key to engine, and right now it's running well.
As for Lucky Jones and Mike McFadden, they have been up and down as of late. McFadden has been battling a knee injury, but returned this week, according to reports. This would be a nice game to get him going, as RMU will need his presence in the middle to move forward. CTC would really like to see Mike do his work on the post, and work on the interior. Lucky will be fine, he's a shooter, and all shooters go through cold streaks. Expect him to correct that quickly.
Defensive outlook:
I like this zone. It's really helped improve the defense and seems to get better each and every game. Last game against Bryant, it created a ll sorts of problems for the Bulldogs.
But....
I'm still not 100 percent convinced we have seen the last of the man-to-man for the season.
Why?
What happens when a team figures this thing out? What happens in the NEC Semifinals when Bryant, or Mount corrects some of the issues and RMU needs to change things up?
If the Colonials can take care of business, jump out quickly, and take control of the game, they could go back to the man-to-man just to see where they stand with it, and how certain players can adjust in the flow of the game.
If St Francis keeps it close, I think Andy Toole sticks to what has been working and what the team feels comfortable with, but if they can gran a 20 point lead by the 10 minute mark in the second half, maybe throws a curve ball at the teams to see how they handle the change.
Lets make it 12 straight over the guys from Loretto PA, and get to 3-0 before the big game this weekend.
--Lee Kunkel
--@Kunkel5
No comments:
Post a Comment