Mount St. Mary's has alternated wins and losses in its last seven games, a stretch capped by Monday night's 69-35 loss at Old Dominion.
But rather than grow frustrated by the team's lack of consistency, coach Jamion Christian said he views the trend as a sign of the Mountaineers' development of a roster that includes just two seniors and six freshmen and four sophomores.
"Sometimes the schedule dictates a win or a loss," he said this morning. "But I think we have such a young team, one of the top 100 youngest teams in the country, and that means that the guys we play lack the experience of playing college basketball. That really shows that guys are probably getting too high after wins, but it also shows that our guys recover well after losses. I think that's really important to be able to go through some adversity and then turn around and make the right plays and right decisions. Our team has been able to do that."
At 4-7, Mount St. Mary's wrapped up the 2014 portion of its schedule and will begin Northeast Conference play on Saturday. The program has captured four Northeast tournament championships, including last season's title.
"You do look forward to league play," Christian said. "You have natural rivalries in league play, teams that your guys always look forward to playing. You get a chance to play each of these teams at home and on the road. So there's a level of excitement for that. And it also puts part of your season into a conclusion. The non-conference season is sort of like a tune-up and as you improve, you learn about yourself. So I think there's a level of excitement. You get in there and play against guys that are like yourself."
The Mountaineers will open their conference schedule at Robert Morris. The game is a rematch of last year's Northeast Conference tournament final that Mount St. Mary's won, 88-71, but Christian doubted he would have to remind his players about that game.
"They do a pretty good job of remembering it," he said with a chuckle. "I'm sure they've watched that game over and over again. Basically, what we'll do is treat Robert Morris like it's our regular game prep. I'm sure Robert Morris will be excited to play because it is league play. [Colonials coach] Andy [Toole] does a great job of having them fired up. But it's one game, the first game of league play, and we'll be fired up just to play the game."