Soooooooooo....Robert Morris is 0-6.

For whatever reason, we have all become too familiar with early season struggles for Robert Morris. It has a similar feel to previous seasons, but there are also many differences compared to teams in the past.

Before I go any further, a quick recap of last night: As you all know, the stream to watch the game on OVC's athletic website wasn't working. The Colonials fell to Tennessee Tech 85-72. RMU went cold in the second half, and the Golden Eagles took advantage after a 12-1 run with 11:54 to play. Robert Morris led in the second half, but Ryan Martin and Aleksa Jugovicv proved to be too much to handle. Rodney Pryor scored 21 points for Robert Morris off the bench. Pryor did not start due to a violation of team rules, but entered the game with around 15 mins remaining in the first half. I assume the violation was a minor one. Martin and Jugovic each scored 20 points, while Torrance Rowe put up 14 points and 8 assists for TTU. Elijah Minnie had another nice game with 18 points, although he struggled shooting the ball in the second half, and Billy Giles played very well, as he scored 16 points and grabbed 6 boards. I said before the season that Giles is going to be a pivotal piece off the bench. Giles coming on strong the last couple of games is one positive for Robert Morris.

So what's wrong? After a strong showing against New Mexico State, Robert Morris took a step back and lost a game they probably should of won. As coach Toole told me prior to the season, it all comes down to consistency and paying attention to detail. I hate to say it, because I know a lot of people in the Robert Morris basketball program don't want to use it as an excuse, and they shouldn't, but the departure of Marcquise Reed really does hurt.

Now the Colonials have played some games they could of won, but having Reed might have gave them that extra edge. Reed's consistent ability to score, get to the charity stripe and draw double teams is something Robert Morris lacks right now. Most of the attention goes to containing Rodney Pryor, and it's working so far. Other teams are content with letting Elijah Minnie, or several other players do a lot of the scoring rather than Pryor. Losing Lucky Jones is also huge because of his defensive ability and his ability to score in a multitude of ways.

Kavon Stewart and Andre Frederick HAVE to step up. Kavon had 5 points on 2-9 shooting, while Frederick was held scoreless and only grabbed 2 rebounds in18 minutes of play. That is unacceptable. I'm confident that Stewart will turn it around, but I thought he'd be more consistent from the start of the season. None of the rookies have really established themselves quite yet, although Isaiah Still has had some nice games, but had a poor shooting performance last night. Matty McConnell played in his first game back from injury last night and the hope is that he develops into a scorer relatively quickly.

There needs to be more fire and energy with this team. Lucky Jones and Karvel Anderson were guys in the past that were strong vocal leaders and were able to get their teammates motivated. Rodney Pryor was a leader last year, but violating a team rule isn't a good look and even though he is scoring and playing well offensively, his team still does not have a win. He's also turning the ball over a little more than I'm sure Toole would like, but that's part of the game.

The Colonials are still in Cookeville, Tennessee, as they play Mississippi Valley State in the final game of the Air Force Classic; MVSU is still searching for their first win, and like the Colonials, they have also had some tough loses. Valley returns Isaac williams, Latrell Love and Vacha Vaughn, but lost three key pieces as well. MVSU was picked to finish eighth in the SouthWestern Athletic Conference. As mentioned a second ago, Mississippi Valley State lost pretty much their entire offense. Isaac Williams, prior to the season, was really expected to be that go to guy for the Delta Devils after scoring just under10 ppg last season, but is only averaging 6.8 points per game thus far. Latrell Love is a 6-5 center who is averaging 9.2 ppg, but is grabbing only 2.0 rebounds per game. To be completely honest, if Robert Morris doesn't win this game, panic might start to set in. No disrespect to MVSU, but they are not a very good basketball team and the Colonials' skill level is superior at just about every position. I've never been the one to panic due to non-conference losses, but it's starting to get worrisome. It's not the fact that they are losing, it's the lack of energy and careless play that catches my eye.

Despite not winning a game, I still think this team is good enough to finish top 3 in the NEC.

Prediction: RMU- 79, MVSU 62.