Nine games after a season for the ages and with the Horizon League opener looming, Robert Morris coach Andy Toole isn’t sure his current roster, which includes just one player from an NCAA Tournament team, has the makeup of a consistent winner.
Ready or not, here comes the first conference game Thursday at Green Bay.
“I hate that we play them in December,” Toole said Sunday after Robert Morris extended its unbeaten home streak at UPMC Events Center to 13 by beating Stetson, 80-62, to complete a two-game sweep at the Urban-Bennett Invitational. “I just think conference games are too important and too meaningful.”
The Colonials last lost a home game Jan. 8, an 80-69 Horizon League decision to Cleveland State.
“We need as much opportunity to get our team ready before you play the most meaningful games of the season,” Toole said. “We have so much to learn, so much to understand.”
Following Thursday’s league-opener, Robert Morris plays at Milwaukee on Saturday before two more chances out-of-conference for the Colonials to work out the kinks.
A home game against Toledo on Dec. 13 and a trip to Saint Francis on Dec. 20 are sandwiched around a visit from Horizon League rival Youngstown State on Dec. 17.
Like it or not, the Horizon League is among a group of Division I conferences electing to begin play in early December.
“I hope we don’t have some major disappointment because we’re not controlling the things we can control on a consistent basis,” Toole said.
Ryan Prather Jr. — the lone returning player from a 26-9 team that lost by nine points to Alabama in an NCAA first-round game — scored 17 points, including five 3-point shots, to lead Robert Morris over Stetson on the final day of the Urban-Bennett Invitational multi-team event.
Four others scored in double figures for the Colonials (6-3), led by Ta’Zir Smith’s 13 points. Albert Vargas added 12, Nikolaos Chitikoudis contributed 11 and Josh Hill finished with 10.
DeSean Goode secured 10 rebounds as Robert Morris dominated Stetson on the glass, 38-25.
The Colonials shot 55.4% and made 12 of 24 3-point shots, led by Prather’s 5-for-8 effort.
“We shot the ball well from 3 today,” Toole said. “That was because of Ryan and the zone (defense Stetson employed at times).”
Ethan Copeland and Jake Johnson tied with 16 points to lead Stetson (3-6), an Atlantic Sun member playing its second game in 24 hours in the three-day event.
Jamie Phillips Jr. added 13 points and Collin Kuhl wound up with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Hatters, who dropped a 70-68 decision Saturday to Southern Utah of the Western Athletic Conference.
Robert Morris defeated the Thunderbirds, 61-54, on Friday to open the round-robin format.
Ever a fretter, Toole seems to agonize every year over a perception his players are slow to grasp his concepts.
“My standard is probably too irrational,” RMU’s veteran coach said. “But that’s the dream — to have irrational-type performances, where everybody’s locked in, engaged, executing and communicating. I know that’s irrational, but I’d like to get (at least) some guys communicating.
“I do think we’ve made some progress. It’s just not (with) enough guys.”
Desperate to find a solution to uniting a team made up predominantly of transfers and freshmen, Toole challenged his players at halftime to build on a promising first-half lead.
And it’s not the first time.
“Obviously, we’re thankful for another win,” he said. “I talked to them about finding ourselves in the same situation as we’ve been in the last couple games, with a double-digit lead. Can we take a step in the right direction and be more mature?
“I don’t know if we did or we didn’t.”
Toole pointed to the Colonials’ 45-28 halftime advantage as a barometer. RMU led by as many as 22 points early in the second half before Stetson cut the margin to 54-45 with 13:50 remaining on a 3-point shot by Phillips.
The Colonials managed to push the lead back to 20 (73-53) on a basket by Chitikoudis with 4:40 left.
“They had 28 points in the first half,” Toole said. “Then they had 20-some points in the first 8-plus minutes of the second half. We’ve got to figure out a way to sustain our effort throughout the entire 40 minutes.”
