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Alabama Basketball: 3 things to know about Round 1 foe Robert Morris
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Alabama is in the NCAA Tournament as a 2-seed in the East Region. The 1-seed in that portion of the bracket is Duke out of the ACC.
We’ll keep an eye on Duke star Cooper Flagg’s injury status moving forward, but for now, there are other games to focus on for Alabama. For example, the Tide take on Robert Morris in Round 1.
The Colonials are the Horizon League champions, having taken down Youngstown State in the conference title game. The Colonials also won the regular-season championship in the Horizon League.
As Nate Oats, Mark Sears and company prepare for their Round 1 matchup, here are 3 things to know about Robert Morris:
1. Robert Morris was a Founding Father
That’s right, this university, located in Pennsylvania, is named after a man known as the “financier of the American Revolution.” In 1775, he was the richest man in America.
His signature is on the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution. He and Roger Sherman are the only people who signed all 3 historic documents.
After becoming a member of Congress, he was accused of using his position to advance his own financial interests, but nothing ever came from those accusations after he left.
There’s your history lesson. Now let’s dive into some hoops.
2. The offense is balanced
Robert Morris has 4 players averaging more than 10 points per game — Kam Woods (15.1 ppg), Alvaro Folgueiras (14.1 ppg), Amarion Dickerson (12.9 ppg) and Josh Omojafo (11.4 ppg). The Colonials average 76.9 points per game, good for No. 98 nationally.
That’s not bad, but the Crimson Tide average 91.1 points per game, good for No. 1 in the nation. Robert Morris only ranks No. 134 nationally in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, so the Tide should be able to do their thing offensively.
The Colonials only attempt 21.6 3-pointers per game. Alabama attempts 29.8. It’ll be tough for Robert Morris to match the Tide’s firepower from beyond the arc.
3. The Colonials haven’t been in March Madness since 2015
Robert Morris is snapping a 10-year tourney drought this year. But the Colonials have never won a “real” NCAA Tournament game. Back in 1983, they beat Georgia Southern in a “preliminary round” game to earn a 12-seed before losing to 5-seed Purdue. In 2015, their most-recent appearance, they won a First Four game against North Florida to earn a 16-seed. They then lost to 1-seed Duke.
Since 2000, Robert Morris has made the Big Dance 3 times — 2009, 2010 and 2015. They lost all 3 Round 1 matchups, but did take 2-seed Villanova to overtime as a 15-seed in 2010 before losing 73-70.
In 2009 as a 15-seed, they lost by… 15… to Michigan State. We’ll see how they fare against Alabama this time around, but it seems to be a bad matchup for the Colonials.
However, they call it March Madness for a reason. Alabama will need to be at its best to survive and advance to Round 2 against either 10-seed Vanderbilt or 7-seed Saint Mary’s.
Check out all the latest Final Four odds as we get started with NCAA Tournament action this week.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
