Ticket to Indy: 3 takeaways from Robert Morris win over Youngstown State in HL Tournament

When the matchups were set for the first round of the Horizon League Tournament, one that stood out was 2-seed Robert Morris hosting Youngstown State, the 9-seed. In the two previous matchups, both games were close overall, including the Colonials winning at home in overtime early in league play.

The game on Wednesday was close, albeit ugly. Both teams started out 2/11 from the field, with nearly half of the first half needed for a team to reach double figures. Robert Morris was up 28-23 at the half, with the Penguins quickly tying it up at 28 with around 19 minutes left. After more slugfest basketball, RMU would go on a 16-2 run to get the lead up to double-digits in the second half, ultimately coasting to a 68-53 win to advance to the Horizon League semifinals as one of the top three seeds remaining.

Here are some takeaways from the game.

1. Ryan Prather’s big second half

It was a rough start for the second-team all-league wing, going 1/7 from the field in the first half for just two points. But he was the one who led RMU on the big run in the second half with eight straight points, ultimately finishing the game with a game-high 24 points on 9/17 FG, including 5/10 from deep. We’ve seen big second halves from Prather during the regular season after slow starts and in a game where made shots were hard to come by, it was Prather who was the star overall.

2. Defense leading the way

Holding a team to 53 points on 32% FG shooting was impressive by the Colonials, bying time before its own offense got going. Cris Carroll, who leads Youngstown State with 17 ppg on the season, finished with his average on 6/16 FG shooting. But he managed to score just four points in the second half, unable to get anything going. And outside of Vladimer Salaridze (18 points) no one else had more than six points for the Penguins.

All of RMU played well defensively but Ubong Okon, who played just eight minutes off the bench, had a strong second half run where he got two steals and two blocks each, preventing Youngstown from getting anything inside. Considering that Nikolaos Chitikoudis was dealing with foul trouble all game, Okon’s play proved to be vital.

3. Albert Vargas return

After missing the last five games with an ankle injury, starting PG Vargas returned, playing 14 minutes off the bench and scoring five points and dishing out two assists. He got one of the first few baskets of the game and he played alongside Darius Livingston, who finished with 12 points on 4/13 FG. 

Integrating Vargas back into the fold will be interesting, as Prather and now Livingston are going to have the ball in their hands more. But Vargas played well on defense and is another ball-handler for Robert Morris, giving them even more depth to work with in the next stage of the season, a trip to Indianapolis for the Horizon League semifinals.