Game Notes (PDF)

GAME #8
Robert Morris (3-4) @ Delaware (3-3)
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 • Noon
Bob Carpenter Center (5,000) • Newark, Del.
Radio: 970 ESPN AM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (play-by-play) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Follow RMU Men's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram: RMUMBasketball
 
Top Story - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team continues a four-game road trip Saturday with a Noon tip against Delaware at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del. The Colonials, who have dropped four of their last five games, are coming off an 81-66 setback @ Buffalo (11/26/13). The Bulls led, 53-52, with 11:23 to go, but were able to pull away thanks to a 25-6 surge that opened up a 78-58 advantage en route to the win. Four players scored in double figures for RMU, led by junior forward Lucky Jones, who finished with a season-high 19 points and added eight rebounds and three assists. Freshman forward Jeremiah Worthem contributed 13 points and four boards off the bench, while senior guard Karvel Anderson recorded 11 points, two blocks and three steals. Senior guard Anthony Myers-Pate chipped in with 10 points and three assists. Robert Morris closes out its four-game road swing after taking on the Blue Hens Saturday by traveling to Youngstown, Ohio, for a 7:45 p.m. tip against Youngstown State at the Beeghly Center Tuesday, Dec. 4.


 
Quick Stat of the Night - Robert Morris has established itself as one of the top mid-major programs in the country in the last six seasons in large part because of its ability to defend. As the Colonials continue a four-game road trip Saturday @ Delaware, RMU will look to get back into that defensive mindset. Robert Morris enters its game Saturday having allowed each of its last four opponents to eclipse the 80-point plateau, allowing an average of 84.0 points per game. It marks the first time opponents have scored at least 80 points in four straight games against the Colonials since the 1994-95 campaign, when six of RMU's last seven opponents, including five straight at one point, turned the trick. In all, five opponents have scored at least 80 points against Robert Morris so far this year. To put that in perspective, in Andrew Toole's first three years as head coach of the Colonials, a span of 104 games, just 13 opponents accomplished the feat.
 
Saturday's Opponent and The All-Time Series - RMU and Delaware meet for just the second time in school history Saturday, with the Colonials having won the inaugural meeting between the two programs Nov. 18, 2008. In that contest former guard Jeremy Chappell (2005-09) registered a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds and former guard Jimmy Langhurst (2006-10) came off the bench to tie for team-high honors with 19 points as Robert Morris posted an 86-75 win at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Six Colonials reached double figures in scoring in the win, as former forward Josiah Whitehead (2008-10) and former guard Gary Wallace (2007-11) each scored 12 points, former guard Bateko Francisco (2007-09) scored 11 and former forward Ifeanyi Ehirim (2005-09) finished with 10 points.  
 
Worthy Addition - Freshman take time to develop, but for Robert Morris, forward Jeremiah Worthem could possibly be coming of age in the midst of RMU's four-game road swing. The reigning Choice Hotels Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week (11/25/13), Worthem has averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in the first two games of the current road trip for the Colonials. In those two games he has converted 64.3 percent (9-for-14) of his shots from the field and is showing a penchant for getting to free-throw line, owning 16 attempts at the stripe in the last two games, converting 10 (62.5 percent). Overall on the season Worthem is supplying RMU with averages of 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest. 
 
Double Trouble - Lucky Jones is certainly someone who can fill the stat sheet, and the junior forward did just that in an 88-81 victory over UT Arlington (11/21/13). Jones recorded his first double-double of the 2013-14 season and third of his career with 15 points and 10 rebounds and also added a career-high four assists and four steals. Jones, RMU's active leader in both points (781) and rebounds (452), has produced a large portion of his offense so far this season at the free-throw line. Through seven games, Jones is 33-for-40 at the stripe, a success rate of 82.5 percent that ranks sixth in the Northeast Conference. Thanks to his early surge at the chalk this season, Jones currently ranks 17th all-time at RMU for career free throws (240) and tied for ninth in career free-throw percentage (.800).
 
On The Offensive - Robert Morris entered the 2013-14 campaign with an impressive streak intact, as the Colonials have won 35 consecutive games when shooting 50 percent or better from the field dating back to the 2008-09 season. The last loss for RMU when hitting at least half its shots came in a 92-72 setback @ Pittsburgh (2/2/09), when the Colonials shot 57.4 percent (27-for-47). Under fourth-year head coach Andrew Toole, RMU is a perfect 20-0 when turning the trick.