Robert Morris loses to Oakland 92-74. Thoughts:

[Tony_Romanello]

Well, Robert Morris fell to 1-8 on the season following their 92-74 loss to Oakland University tonight. Here are some thoughts following the game:

- Although they were trailing by 1, I thought Robert Morris played some of their best basketball of the season during the first half. The defense was solid. They got 6 steals and blocked 4 shots. They were getting out in transition a little bit and getting some easy buckets. They were also rebounding well, out-rebounding Oakland 25-20.

- Too bad RMU couldn't carry over their play into the second half. The Colonials got out-scored 52-35 in the second half. They shot just 30.3 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from three. They also got out-rebounded 30-20. RMU just couldn't get anything going in the second half. The offense just kind of shut down. There was a stretch in the second half from the 16:00 minute mark to the 8:46 mark in which RMU scored just 3 points.

- This game we actually saw Robert Morris take a good bit of free throws (32). However, they only made 18 of them which was good for 56.3 percent. This number is just entirely too low and RMU needs to capitalize when they get to the line.

- Rodney Pryor, however, was excellent. He did literally everything for RMU tonight. He finished the game with 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting along with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. He was making shots from all over the floor and was creating shots for himself. There was even a point during the game in which he was playing in the center of the zone. This was probably the best game I've seen Rodney play. I just wish he got a little bit of help.

- Billy Giles was also very good today. He scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, 5 of them being on the offensive end. He was an efficient 7-of-10 from the field. Giles was definitely the second best player on the floor tonight for RMU behind Pryor. Giles has really started to find his groove this season. I think he's going to be very good once we hit NEC play.

- Matty McConnell had a nice first half, putting up 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. He kind of disappeared in the second half, registering just 1 point.

- Isaiah Still had a pretty rough game out there for RMU tonight. His final stat line of 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals looks nice, but then you take a look at his shooting numbers. He shot 3-of-17 from the field, 1-of-8 from three and 5-of-10 from the line. He just really couldn't make anything today. Part of me liked seeing him stay aggressive and keep trying to get back on track but the other part wanted to see him try to affect the game in other ways and try and set up teammates or something.

- Kavon Stewart yet again struggled immensely scoring the ball. He shot just 1-of-8 from the field, 0-of-2 from three and 1-of-3 from the foul line. He also had only 2 assists to 3 turnovers on the day. Kavon did do a good job breaking the press that Oakland was playing, though.

- The only player off the bench that scored today was Steven Whitely, who had 1 point on a free throw late in the second half.

- The Colonials were without Elijah Minnie today, who was out due to being sick, as well as Aaron Tate and Joe Hugley still. Jordan Lester played 7 minutes in the first half but came out of the locker room late after half and took a seat at the end of the bench and didn't see the floor the rest of the night.

- RMU now has a 9 day break before they are back in action when they take on Columbia in New York on December 14th. Hopefully Coach Toole and RMU can figure something out and get a few wins before NEC play starts.​

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

Well, Robert Morris fell to 1-8 on the season following their 92-74 loss to Oakland University tonight. Here are some thoughts following the game:

- Although they were trailing by 1, I thought Robert Morris played some of their best basketball of the season during the first half. The defense was solid. They got 6 steals and blocked 4 shots. They were getting out in transition a little bit and getting some easy buckets. They were also rebounding well, out-rebounding Oakland 25-20.

- Too bad RMU couldn't carry over their play into the second half. The Colonials got out-scored 52-35 in the second half. They shot just 30.3 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from three. They also got out-rebounded 30-20. RMU just couldn't get anything going in the second half. The offense just kind of shut down. There was a stretch in the second half from the 16:00 minute mark to the 8:46 mark in which RMU scored just 3 points.

- This game we actually saw Robert Morris take a good bit of free throws (32). However, they only made 18 of them which was good for 56.3 percent. This number is just entirely too low and RMU needs to capitalize when they get to the line.

- Rodney Pryor, however, was excellent. He did literally everything for RMU tonight. He finished the game with 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting along with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. He was making shots from all over the floor and was creating shots for himself. There was even a point during the game in which he was playing in the center of the zone. This was probably the best game I've seen Rodney play. I just wish he got a little bit of help.

- Billy Giles was also very good today. He scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, 5 of them being on the offensive end. He was an efficient 7-of-10 from the field. Giles was definitely the second best player on the floor tonight for RMU behind Pryor. Giles has really started to find his groove this season. I think he's going to be very good once we hit NEC play.

- Matty McConnell had a nice first half, putting up 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. He kind of disappeared in the second half, registering just 1 point.

- Isaiah Still had a pretty rough game out there for RMU tonight. His final stat line of 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals looks nice, but then you take a look at his shooting numbers. He shot 3-of-17 from the field, 1-of-8 from three and 5-of-10 from the line. He just really couldn't make anything today. Part of me liked seeing him stay aggressive and keep trying to get back on track but the other part wanted to see him try to affect the game in other ways and try and set up teammates or something.

- Kavon Stewart yet again struggled immensely scoring the ball. He shot just 1-of-8 from the field, 0-of-2 from three and 1-of-3 from the foul line. He also had only 2 assists to 3 turnovers on the day. Kavon did do a good job breaking the press that Oakland was playing, though.

- The only player off the bench that scored today was Steven Whitely, who had 1 point on a free throw late in the second half.

- The Colonials were without Elijah Minnie today, who was out due to being sick, as well as Aaron Tate and Joe Hugley still. Jordan Lester played 7 minutes in the first half but came out of the locker room late after half and took a seat at the end of the bench and didn't see the floor the rest of the night.

- RMU now has a 9 day break before they are back in action when they take on Columbia in New York on December 14th. Hopefully Coach Toole and RMU can figure something out and get a few wins before NEC play starts.​

Good recap...

I was at the game and RMU looked very good in the first half and was winning by nine at one point to a top 3 horizon league team. Stinks that #10 on their team kept making 3's and put RMU out of the game. The Fielder dude was REALLY GOOD. Put up 20+ And 8 assists had really good handles too. What a weapon to have and at only 5-9.

RMU was really short on people today. Having one more (minnie) would have been better. Giles was very good and had a nice reverse slam.

Rodney's dunk in the first half was AWESOME!

Think this team WILL be good once they have everyone healthy and working together. Defense still needs to get better. Still & Kavon need to shoot like 50 free throws a day to get RMU more competitive. Toole should literally play knock out during practice! Liked the fact that they got to the line so much (32) but got to make more than (18). If they made 7 more, let's say, would have been in the game some late.

All in all, was a fairly entertaining game but a L is an L. Need to use this break as a time to focus and to prep to maybe beat Columbia.

Go RMU...

 

[Carlester]

Really hard to imagine that we'd have so many folks miss so many games already this year. Hopefully, that means we'll be healthy during league play. Rodney continues to be great and Billy Giles continues to improve each game. Once again our FT shooting was a killer. When they made their second half run to take control much of that was aided but our inability to make free throws.

Hopefully, having over a week off will allow us to get some rest and get healthy. The talent is there for us to still have a successful season.

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

Really hard to imagine that we'd have so many folks miss so many games already this year. Hopefully, that means we'll be healthy during league play. Rodney continues to be great and Billy Giles continues to improve each game. Once again our FT shooting was a killer. When they made their second half run to take control much of that was aided but our inability to make free throws.

Hopefully, having over a week off will allow us to get some rest and get healthy. The talent is there for us to still have a successful season.

Agree with all you said. Maybe Tate will be ready at the end of the break, who knows... Minnie should be good by the end of it as he is just sick. This team still has yet to see freshman Joe Hugley and he could be a decent presence at the 3 or 4 spot.

During the break, everyone (but Rodney , he's doing fine) needs to shoot like 100 free throws a game.
Still was at the line and TWICE he missed BOTH free throws l. He was driving at lot during the game and has the best moves by far in the lane out of anyone on the team but FAILED to finish the shots today. Still doesn't mean he isn't good, he should be really good in the future (he's only a freshman.) although his failure so far at the line has me a tad worried as he's shooting 50% at the line on the year.

Not having A full 13 scholarship players has not helped this team that has been plagued with some injuries. I mean, we lost two seniors before the season even started, and they were both big, big men too (Gomis and Bennett).
Yesterday, PRYOR was playing at center some! And Oakland has a 6-10 260 lb center! Having more size would help this team and another veteran scorer (junior/senior or Reed, he'd work).

We'll see if Toole can rally the troops and maybe win some games soon. First, getting healthy would help...

Go Bobby Mo...