The Robert Morris Colonials are at home today against Mt. Saint Mary's. RMU is riding a five game win streak after an 0-2 start to conference play. The five game win streak is tied for a season high. The Mount is coming off a heartbreaking home loss to Wagner in a game they really should have had. It's been an interesting season for the Mountaineers, who has undergone coaching turnover and a new philosophy that has come with it. Andrew Chiappazzi from ColonialsCorner.com has more on that:
The Mount's changed even more. Milan Brown is long gone, now at Holy Cross. The two-year experiment under Robert Burke failed miserably, leading for the Mount to follow a similar path to RMU and go young with former Virginia Commonwealth assistant Jamion Christian.
Christian has introduced an up-tempo style nicknamed "Havoc", and while the Mount has shown flashes of adapting to the style, it's been a process. It's also led to drastically different numbers. In 2008-2009, Mount St. Mary's allowed 63.2 points per game in the NEC and just 0.95 points per possession. Offensively, the Mount wasn't special, averaging a respectable 1.07 points per possession and 71.6 points per game, third in the league.
Under Christian, though, both sides have struggled. The offense is at 67.4 points per game, a two basket difference that's exacerbated by a more prolific scoring league. That number puts the Mount eighth in NEC play, and their 1.02 points per possession puts Christian's club sixth in the league. Defensively, the Mount gives up 70.4 points per game and 1.06 points per possession, tied for seventh.
Havoc. That's all you need to know about this Mount team. They're hopes are to wear out a team as the game goes on and get easy baskets off dumb turnovers. As Andrew notes, the difference in offense and defense from last year to this hasn't been much of anything. We've seen a few times this year that RMU has had trouble breaking the press, but with a few days to prepare that shouldnt be a problem. Bryant fell to LIU today so a win could put RMU at a tie atop the standings. My prediction? RMU 71 MSMU 58
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