MOON TOWNSHIP– Looking for a bounce-back performance after an opening night loss versus Northern Kentucky to start the Horizon League schedule, Robert Morris returned home to face off against another Horizon League rival in Youngstown State.
The Colonials have had success versus the Penguins over the last couple of seasons, winning three of the previous four matchups.
It wasn’t meant to be tonight, as the Colonials fell in this matchup by a score of 71-57. YSU left their mark all over this game and dominated the whole night.
The shooting for Robert Morris was the main point of concern as the team shot just 24-58 from the field tonight, which is just over 40%. The concern was also from behind the arc, as the team shot just 4-17 and struggled the entire game to find their rhythm.
After what was a competitive first half, with RMU only being down by two, there seemed to be a change in the second half. The Colonials came out of the locker room sluggish, and as a result, the Penguins took advantage and went on a run that RMU couldn’t come back from. The Colonials lost the second half convincingly 41-29.
Robert Morris has to fix the problem of being a streaky team. There were six moments throughout the game, primarily in the second half, where RMU went scoreless for long periods. The longest was a stretch where the team did not score in 5:19. With that being said, one of the big stretches was to start the second half, where YSU went on a 29-7 run throughout 11:31.
An overall lack of consistency to start the season has been one of the glaring issues with the team so far. The talent level is there to get the job done, but when you can’t do it consistently, it becomes a problem.
Head Coach Andy Toole Spoke on the team’s lack of consistency so far.
“How many layups can you miss? We will go back and watch the shots, there are probably a few I didn’t like, a lot of them are at the rim. You got to be able to finish. That was the story on Wednesday.”
Toole talked at length post-game about the consistent issues, continuing to say.
“There are adjustments to playing college basketball but Markeese is a fifth-year guy, Steph (Stephaun Walker) has played a lot of minutes. We need some more contributions from a lot of people,” Toole said. “Justice (Williams) is a third-year guy, Jackson (Last) is a fourth-year guy basically, Josh Corbin is a fifth-year guy.”
Now that the team is eight games into the season and the Colonials record sitting at 2-6, there has to be a sense of urgency within the program to get back on track and where they want to be.
Talking with Coach Toole after the game about what must be done and if there is a sense of urgency inside the locker room.
“I hope so, there is certainly a sense of urgency from the coaching staff, I think that there is a desire to do the right thing from the players, we just need more of it from more guys. I think we just have to be able to do it consistently.”
“I wish we would come in with more of an edgier attitude in terms of getting stuff done that needs to get done. I think we have to hold the line as coaches and do it until we do it right. I think that can create some consistency”.
Robert Morris will be back in action on Wednesday, December 6, when they travel to Buffalo, N.Y., to take on Canisius, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m.
