Robert Morris Basketball: Recent sweep of wins the start of an upward trend?

Robert Morris Basketball got two straight Horizon League wins for the first time in program history. Can the Colonials build off of this success?

There’s no question that the 2021-22 season hasn’t gone according to plan for Robert Morris Basketball. They started out the campaign 1-14 against D-I opponents and lost the first six games of Horizon League play.

Making matters worse, roster attrition continued to be a thing for the program. Three players that were expected to be part of the rotation all left the program, including St. John’s transfer Rasheem Dunn, who at the time of his departure was leading the team in scoring at 12.9 ppg. On paper, the Colonials had a chance to really bottom out and end up at the very bottom of the league in the next month.

However, RMU got a much-needed win at the end of the five-game homestand, beating Northern Kentucky to get off the winless skid. A blowout loss at Purdue-Fort Wayne took away that momentum but a spirited fight against Cleveland State two days later gave some hope for last week’s games against Milwaukee (without Patrick Baldwin Jr.) and Green Bay, who was just one game ahead of the Colonials in the standings.

RMU vs Milwaukee

In the first matchup, the five-star freshman Baldwin had a season-high 26 points on 6/6 from deep to destroy Robert Morris. He wasn’t around this time around and Kahliel Spear made them pay, going for a career-high 25 points and nine rebounds in the team’s 77-53 win over the Panthers, by far their best game this season and overall in the Horizon League.

It was easily the best defensive effort as well for the team, holding the Panthers to 34% shooting from the field and allowing not a single player to be in double figures. It’s been a big improvement for a Colonials team that ranks in the bottom-30 nationally in scoring defense.

RMU vs Green Bay

On paper, it looked as if the Colonials shouldn’t have much trouble. The Phoenix was 4-15 overall and 3-7 in league play heading into this one. Plus, Donovan Ivory, the team’s second-leading scorer, had just left the team prior to this game. For a program that ranks in the bottom-20 of scoring nationally, that’s a fatal problem. And yet, they came back from a slow start to keep the game at a low-scoring pace, leading by one point at halftime.

But Robert Morris was able to get an 8-point lead after a big early run and never gave control back, despite Green Bay keeping it close all the way through. The final scorer was 62-60, thanks to a game-high 21 points from Michael Green. And while Colonial supporters would’ve liked to have a more emphatic victory, the winning plays in crunchtime is a positive sign for a team that has its fair share of close losses this season.

Final 9 games of regular season (assuming Detroit Mercy road game doesn’t get made up)

Rober Morris currently stands at 5-16 overall and 3-9 in league play, already matching last season’s win total in the Horizon League. And on paper, the upcoming schedule should allow for more wins if the team continues to improve. Out of the nine, only three games will the Colonials be clear underdogs (Home vs Oakland and at Wright State and Northern Kentucky). There are two games against IUPUI, which currently is winless in league play.

Although they have just three wins, RMU isn’t eliminated from the Horizon League mid-tier discussion. IUPUI is confirmed at the bottom, while Cleveland State, Oakland, and Wright State are the clear top-3. But there are five teams with 5 or 6 wins currently and if one of them falls down the stretch, that opens up a spot for either RMU, Green Bay, or Illinois-Chicago (all have 3 wins) to potentially host a game in the Horizon League Tournament.

Assuming that the Colonials can beat IUPUI next Saturday on the road, the next game at Ilinois-Chicago will be massive for both sides. The winner can have a case to escape the bottom four and the Colonials could (once again assuming they beat IUPUI) have a 4-game win steak entering home matchups against Detroit Mercy and Oakland. And helping matters is the return of sharpshooter Kam Farris, who missed the last four games due to covid protocols.

Thursday at Illinois-Chicago has turned into an important game for the Rober Morris Basketball program, something that hasn’t been said since they entered the Horizon League. Now we’ll see how they handle things now that there are expectations.