Robert Morris at a glance

I ran out of time for a full preview ahead of NC State’s game against Robert Morris on Tuesday, so to the bullets:

— Robert Morris is ranked 238th in the Pomeroy Ratings with an offense that checks in at No. 312 and defense that rates at No. 126. Bobby Mo is among the younger teams in the nation, with six freshmen in the main rotation.

— The Colonials are willing to play at a brisk pace but they’ve run into problems with that, namely turnovers. They commit a lot of turnovers. Their defense forces a lot of ‘em too, though: they are fourth nationally in defensive turnover percentage.

— This team also lacks much size, which is a big part of its issues at the offensive end. They get a lot of shots blocked and are just 275th nationally in two-point accuracy. Poor shooting, turnovers, and mediocre offensive rebounding do not make for a good combination.

— They are led by guards Dachon Burke and Koby Thomas, who account for nearly 60% of RMU’s shots while they are on the floor together. Thomas is making over 59% of his twos, which makes him a major exception on the roster, since nobody else in the rotation is even above 47% inside the arc. Burke has made 15 of his 32 three-point tries.

— Freshman guard Jon Williams is an impressive 18-44 (.409) from three ... aaannnd 1-14 from two. But he’s got more important things on his mind, like scoring Star Wars movies.

— Junior Matty McConnell is a profile in determination or denial, depending on how you want to look at it. He has 377 career three-point attempts and has made a mere 28.6% of ‘em. He is 16-62 (.258) this year. He takes twice as many threes as twos.

— The team’s defensive style creates turnovers, but when that doesn’t happen, it’s pretty bad: this is a terrible defensive rebounding team and they do not defend the interior well, either. Which is unsurprising for an undersized team that is going to play a guard-heavy rotation.

— The Pomeroy Predictor has NC State by 14.