UCONN Vs. Robert Morris
Day: Saturday
Date: March 19, 2016
Location: Storrs, Ct
Time: 11:00 AM
TV: ESPN2
1 seed UConn Huskies 16 seed Robert Morris Colonials
32-0 20-12
Overview
This is the first meeting between UConn and Robert Morris. The Colonials have been a solid mid-major program the last three seasons. In their last NCAA appearance in the 2013-14 season, as a 16 seed, they lost a 93-42 game to Notre Dame.
This year, they have struggled against the better teams in their OOC schedule, losing 94-73 to Charlotte, 69-50 to Iowa, and 79-52 to Florida. They come in on a 6 game winning streak including their 56-51 win over top seeded Sacred Heart to win the Northeast Conference.
UConn is the prohibitive favorite for the NCAA tournament and come in at 32-0. They won the AAC tournament, beating No. 20 South Florida and beat them two other times during the season. Along with the three wins against 6 seed USF, they have beaten two of the three other top seeds in Notre Dame and South Carolina. They have also beaten 2 seed Maryland, 3 seed Ohio State, 5 seed Florida State and 6 seed DePaul. UConn is certainly tournament tested.
This year, they have struggled against the better teams in their OOC schedule, losing 94-73 to Charlotte, 69-50 to Iowa, and 79-52 to Florida. They come in on a 6 game winning streak including their 56-51 win over top seeded Sacred Heart to win the Northeast Conference.
UConn is the prohibitive favorite for the NCAA tournament and come in at 32-0. They won the AAC tournament, beating No. 20 South Florida and beat them two other times during the season. Along with the three wins against 6 seed USF, they have beaten two of the three other top seeds in Notre Dame and South Carolina. They have also beaten 2 seed Maryland, 3 seed Ohio State, 5 seed Florida State and 6 seed DePaul. UConn is certainly tournament tested.
Stat by Stat Comparison
Leader is bolded.
Leader is bolded.
UConn Robert Morris
87.6 Points Per Game 64.3
47.9 Opp Points Per Game 58.6
.525 Field Goal % .396
.330 Opp Field Goal % .375
.364 3 Point Field Goal % .334
.306 Opp 3 Point Field Goal % .273
.796 Free Throw % .678
41.1 Rebounds Per Game 38.0
30.6 Opp Rebounds Per Game 36.3
21.6 Assists Per Game 13.3
11.9 Turnovers Per Game 15.8
1.8 Assists/Turnover Ratio .8
1.8 Assists/Turnover Ratio .8
12.2 Steals Per Game 7.8
6.4 Blocks Per Game 3.6
UConn Starters
30 Breanna Stewart
6'4" Senior Forward
6'4" Senior Forward
2015-16 Stats
31 Games - MPG 28.6, FG% .582, 3PT% .412, PPG 19.2 RPG 8.3, APG 4.0, 53 steals, 107 blocks
31 Games - MPG 28.6, FG% .582, 3PT% .412, PPG 19.2 RPG 8.3, APG 4.0, 53 steals, 107 blocks
3 Morgan Tuck
6'2" RS Junior Forward
6'2" RS Junior Forward
2015-16 Stats
27 Games - MPG 25.9, FG% .502, 3PT% .286, PPG 12.5, RPG 5.7, APG 3.2, 20 steals, 8 blocks
4 Moriah Jefferson
5'7" Senior Guard
5'7" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
31 Games - MPG 30.7, FG% .551, 3PT% .394, PPG 12.6, RPG 2.6, APG 5.4, 83 steals, 6 blocks
11 Kia Nurse
6' Sophomore Guard
2015-16 Stats
32 Games - MPG 27.7, FG% .431, 3PT% .349, PPG 9.3, RPG 1.9, APG 2.7, 45 steals, 6 blocks
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Freshman Guard/Forward
2015-16 Stats
32 Games - MPG 23.3, FG% .484, 3PT% .386, PPG 10.4, RPG 3.3, APG 2.3, 35 steals, 5 blocks
UConn Bench
51 Natalie Butler
6'5" RS Sophomore Center
12 Saniya Chong
5'8" Junior Guard
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Sophomore Forward
5'11" Sophomore Forward
2015-16 Stats
32 Games - MPG 19.0, FG% .644, 3PT% .000, PPG 9.4 RPG 5.9, APG 1.4, 64 steals, 12 blocks
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1 Freshman Forward/Guard
2015-16 Stats
32 Games - MPG 17.6, FG% .528, 3PT% .143, PPG 6.5, RPG 5.6, APG .9, 42 steals, 40 blocks
6'5" RS Sophomore Center
2015-16 Stats
21 Games - MPG 13.5, FG% .584, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.6, RPG 4.7, APG 1.0, 13 steals, 17 blocks
5'8" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
27 Games - MPG 13.8, FG% .405, 3PT% .364, PPG 4.1, RPG 1.5, APG 1.2, 18 steals, 2 blocks
22 Courtney Ekmark
6' Sophomore Guard
2015-16 Stats
28 Games - MPG 9.5, FG% .453, 3PT% .371, PPG 2.3, RPG 1.3, APG .8, 10 steals, 1 block
20 Tierney Lawlor
5'7" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
22 Briana Pulido
5'7" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
25 Games - MPG 3.2, FG% .429, 3PT% .400, PPG .4, RPG 0.1, APG 0.2, 1 steals, 0 blocks
5'7" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
22 Games - MPG 2.6, FG% .176, 3PT% .100, PPG 0.3, RPG 0.1, APG 0.1, 1 steals, 0 blocks
Robert Morris Head Coach
Sal Buscaglia
Sal Buscaglia is winding up his final season on the bench with the Colonials, 13 years after taking over and turning around the women’s basketball program. Since he has taken over, the women's basketball program has played in six national tournaments, won three Northeast Conference championships and earned playoff berths in 10 of his 12 seasons.
Before Robert Morris, Buscaglia spent five seasons at Manhattan College (1998-2003). For eight seasons prior to his arrival at Manhattan, Buscaglia was head coach of the University at Buffalo from 1990-98 and led the Bulls to five 20-win campaigns.
Buscaglia started his coaching career at Hilbert Junior College, in Hamburg, New York, where in 12 seasons from 1977-90 he amassed a record of 249-62. During his tenure at Hilbert, his teams collected 93 straight league wins, eight straight Region Tournament Championships (1982-90), eight straight regular season conference championships (1982-90) and eight straight National Tournament appearances (1982-90). In 1988-89 his team finished in the elite eight. Coach Sal is a member of the Hilbert College Hall of Fame.
Hopefully the hammering that UConn will give him won't leave a big bruise and he can retire and enjoy his three grandkids Paityn, Shane and Eva as much as I enjoy mine.
Robert Morris Starters
4 Anna Nikki Stamolamprou
5'9" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
MPG 34.0, FG% .380, 3PT% .337, PPG 13.8, RPG 5.5, APG 3.4, 47 steals, 3 blocks
22 Megan Smith
6'1" Sophomore Forward
2015-16 Stats
MPG 26.5, FG% .432, 3PT% .328, PPG 8.0, RPG 5.8, APG 1.4, 14 steals, 14 blocks
14 Ashley Ravelli
5'10" Senior Guard
MPG 27.2, FG% .311, 3PT% .270, PPG 8.0, RPG 1.9, APG 2.5, 35 steals, 6 blocks
5'10" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
MPG 21.0, FG% .433, 3PT% .452, PPG 7.4, RPG 3.0, APG 1.2, 22 steals, 4 blocks
21 Mikalah Mulrain
6'3" Sophomore Center
2015-16 Stats
MPG 22.2, FG% .460, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.4, RPG 5.7, APG 0.6, 29 steals, 46 blocks
Robert Morris Bench
1 Jocelynne Jones
6' Sophomore Forward
2015-16 Stats
MPG 15.0, FG% .431, 3PT% .222, PPG 5.5, RPG 4.6, APG 0.9, 46 steals, 13 blocks
20 Leah Wormack
6'1" RS Senior Center
2015-16 Stats
MPG 14.9, FG% .425, 3PT% .000, PPG 5.3, RPG 3.5, APG 0.4, 7 steals, 22 blocks
12 Lou Mataly
5'10" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
MPG 15.3, FG% .342, 3PT% .321, PPG 3.5, RPG 1.5, APG 1.2, 14 steals, 4 blocks
11 Janee Brown
5'8" Junior Guard
5'8" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
MPG 11.3, FG% .413, 3PT% .200, PPG 2.9, RPG 0.8, APG 1.1, 18 steals, 1 block
ROBERT MORRIS TEAM STATS
ROBERT MORRIS TEAM STATS
Game Analysis
In order to have a clue about the Colonials, I watched their conference championship game while waiting for my car to be serviced. The problem with that is that you see them against equal competition in their lower level conference, so you have to be careful in thinking they can do some of the same things against UConn.
Robert Morris loves to play a drive and dish type offense off of screens, but I have to say that they just don't seem to play with the same intensity as they need to. They do a lot of sliding off screen and soft cuts. The entire game I watched, there was very little on the ball pressure from Sacred Heart. That won't happen against UConn. While I like how Ravelli and Stamolamprou play, they are in big time trouble against the pressure that Jefferson and Nurse will bring to bear on the Colonial guards. They do like to come off screens and shoot jumpers, but with UConn's help defense, it will be a tall order for them to make them.
The frontcourt for Robert Morris are nice Mid-Major type players, but there is very little bulk that will be able to handle the size of Tuck and the quick jumping of Williams. And for sure, they have no one to guard Stewart, but who does? Jocelynne Jones has a nose for the basket, but Tuck will absolutely destroy her in the paint.
UConn will do what they do. Pressure early and often on defense, run at every opportunity and look for the open three. This game has potential for a BIG MOV.
Robert Morris loves to play a drive and dish type offense off of screens, but I have to say that they just don't seem to play with the same intensity as they need to. They do a lot of sliding off screen and soft cuts. The entire game I watched, there was very little on the ball pressure from Sacred Heart. That won't happen against UConn. While I like how Ravelli and Stamolamprou play, they are in big time trouble against the pressure that Jefferson and Nurse will bring to bear on the Colonial guards. They do like to come off screens and shoot jumpers, but with UConn's help defense, it will be a tall order for them to make them.
The frontcourt for Robert Morris are nice Mid-Major type players, but there is very little bulk that will be able to handle the size of Tuck and the quick jumping of Williams. And for sure, they have no one to guard Stewart, but who does? Jocelynne Jones has a nose for the basket, but Tuck will absolutely destroy her in the paint.
UConn will do what they do. Pressure early and often on defense, run at every opportunity and look for the open three. This game has potential for a BIG MOV.
Final Prediction
I think the best indicator of how this game will go is to look at the 1 vs 16 games that UConn has had the last several years.
St. Francis - 89-33 +56
Prairie View - 87-44 +43
Idaho - 105-37 +68
Prairie View - 83-47 +36
Hartford - 75-39 +36
Southern - 95-39 +56
Sure, I could guess anywhere from a 36-68 point win. But what fun is that?
After watching Robert Morris play in their league championship game, I was impressed with their solid team ball. They are a well coached team. But they are too slow to handle the press and that can build up points quickly for the Huskies. And it will turn over Robert Morris keeping their score down.
So...here goes....UConn by 60+.
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