Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball program announced Thursday four home games that will be unable to be played at PPG Paints Arena in 2017-18 will be played at the A.J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University. RMU will host one non-conference game and three Northeast Conference (NEC) contests at the home of the Dukes.
Included on the slate for the Colonials at the Palumbo Center in 2017-18 is their non-conference game against Canisius (Dec. 22) as well as league tilts against St. Francis Brooklyn (Jan. 4), Bryant (Feb. 15) and Central Connecticut State (Feb. 17). All four games will tip at 7:00 p.m.
"It seemed like a natural fit for the four games that we're unable to play at PPG Paints Arena to be played at the A.J. Palumbo Center," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "We looked at a number of options over the past few months, and we're grateful that the administration at Duquesne felt it was worth having us as a tenant at their facility."
In addition to hosting four games at the Palumbo Center, RMU will also visit the venue as the road team to take on the Dukes Sunday, Nov. 19, in a 5:30 p.m. tip as part of 10 consecutive games away from home to open its 2017-18 campaign.
RELATED: Robert Morris 2017-18 Schedule
Robert Morris will play a pair of exhibition games on the road to open its season, beginning
Friday, Oct. 27, with a 7:00 p.m. tip at Niagara. The Colonials will also travel to Latrobe, Pa., for
a 7:00 p.m. tip against Saint Vincent at the Carey Center Monday, Oct. 30.
RMU will open its 2017-18 regular season and 42nd season of Division I basketball Friday, Nov. 10, with a 7:00 p.m. tip at Ohio State. The Colonials will also visit Grand Canyon (Nov. 13), San Diego (Nov. 15), Duquesne, Little Rock (Nov. 25), Youngstown State (Nov. 29) and Siena (Dec. 2) as well taking on Norfolk State (Nov. 24) at Little Rock as part of its season-opening road trip.
Led by Toole, in his eighth year as head coach of the Colonials 2017-18, Robert Morris was
picked seventh Wednesday in the 2017 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll. The poll was released as part of the sixth annual NEC Social Media Day, held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Over the last 10 years, RMU has compiled an overall record of 207-137 (.602), which is tied for 15th among mid-major programs during that span with Iona and Ohio. The Colonials are one of just 19 mid-major programs to averages at least 20 victories in the last decade. Robert Morris has appeared in the postseason seven times during that stretch, including the NCAA Tournament three times (2009, 2010, 2015), the NIT three times (2008, 2013, 2014) and the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
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