For the first time in Horizon League history, Robert Morris Basketball is in Indy for the conference tournament's semifinals. They got here by beating Wright State in the quarterfinals at home, 82-63. Their next opponent will be tougher, taking on all-time coaching wins leader Greg Kampe and the Oakland Grizzlies. They got here by pulling off the upset over Milwaukee on the road last week.
Next up: Oakland on Monday in the semis. See you in Indy! #GRIT #HLMBB #MarchStartsHere pic.twitter.com/Uh50gAUqKF
— RMU Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) March 7, 2025
In the first two meetings, Robert Morris swept the Grizzlies, with the last game coming down to the final seconds. Coach Kampe rarely ever loses to a team three times in a season so this will be the toughest test yet for the Colonials. Here are the keys to the matchup.
Foul trouble amongst the bigs
Both statistically and via the eye test, these are the two best frontcourts in the Horizon League. Player of the Year Alvaro Folgueiras and Defensive POY Amarion Dickerson lead RMU, while Allen David Mukeba and Tuburu Naivalura both average at least 14 ppg and 7.0 rpg for the Grizzlies. Whichever frontcourt plays better will give their team a chance to win, but that will also be determined by whoever avoids foul trouble, something both teams dealt with in the earlier matchups.
Which Kam Woods will appear?
Woods was another all-league player for Robert Morris, playing his best basketball of late. His season-high was 20 points in a win over Oakland in the first go-around, though he had just six points on 1/8 FG shooting in the second game, though he did have the game-winning FTs after a controversial foul call. We’ve seen both versions of Woods, but RMU can’t afford for him to have a rough outing in the most important game of the year.
Figuring out who the x-factor will be on Oakland
What makes Oakland dangerous is when they can find any kind of perimeter shooting to help with the frontcourt production. We saw different players have good games versus RMU, including Malcolm Christie made a trio of threes in game one, followed by freshman Nassim Mashhour, scoring 14 points off the bench to keep the Grizzlies in the game. In the 72-64 win over Milwaukee, Jaylen Jones had 10 points off the bench. Robert Morris will have to be prepared for a number of options to emerge on Monday night, as that player could be the one who sends them home.