Robert Morris Preview: Remember the Detroit Mercy Titans

INDIANAPOLIS — Robert Morris used a perfect month of February to climb back into the upper echelon of the Horizon League standings and carried that momentum into the team’s first round win over Youngstown State.

Now, as the Colonials’ preperation for their semifinal matchup against Detroit Mercy has come to an end with the two teams meeting at the Corteva Coliseum later this evening, it is a good time to “Remember the Titans.”

Detroit Mercy is led by a All-League guard trio in Orlando Lovejoy (First Team, Defensive Team), TJ Nadeau (Third Team) and Tyler Spratt (Freshman Team).

Lovejoy and Nadeau had two solid outings each against Robert Morris this season while Spratt has been limited through both games.

Lovejoy is averaging 19.5 points and 4.5 assists per game against the Colonials, each above his season averages of 15.3 points and 3.7 assists per game.

With a scrappy defender like Albert Vargas back in the fold for Robert Morris, limiting Lovejoy’s success will be a huge key for the Colonials in Indy.

Robert Morris swept the regular season series against Detroit Mercy but neither win was easy.

The Colonials used a 58-point second half to comeback from a halftime deficit to beat the Titans 85-77 in the season’s first matchup back on Jan. 2, while Ryan Prather Jr. lit the Titans up in the second half for a career-high 29 points en route to a 73-62 win on Feb. 25.

Following the second meeting of the season, Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole spoke about the difficulties of playing this iteration of Detroit Mercy.

“They’re so well positioned defensively, they’re physical,” Toole said. “They do a great job of their defensive execution, whether they’re switching, they’re staying, and they kind of keep you on your heels with the way that they execute their defense, and then they rotate with great aggression, and they have good size and strength at the rim, that you really have to work to be able to find quality shots.”

Let’s dive into the Titans’ defensive numbers from this season.

Despite being just seventh in the Horizon League in terms of points per game allowed (78.2), the Titans metrics look much better as they rank inside of the top five in three crucial areas.

The Titans rank second in the league in opponent field goal percentage (44.4%) and third in opponent three-point percentage (33.2%), meaning their defenders close out on shooters effectively at a high rate. They also rank fifth in blocked shots per game (3.3) which all combined, back up Toole’s assesment of their defensive intensity.

The one area that the Colonials overmatch the Titans at is experience, albeit only with Toole and Prather, as Mark Montgomery’s squad is in uncharted territory with their success this season last year.

While Lovejoy has been at Detroit Mercy for a couple of years now, nothing has prepared him for a season-defining game like they will play tonight as the Titans won just one game the entire season in 2023-24 before going 8-24 in Montgomery’s first season at the helm.

If Robert Morris wants to reach its second-consecutive Horizon League Championship appearance in as many years, they will have to come out of the gate firing against a tough defensive matchup as well as rely on the veteran Prather to help close things out down the stretch.