Road Trip Continues Wednesday In Land of Lincoln

Men's Basketball | 11/18/2014 12:42:00 PM

GAME 3
Robert Morris (0-2) @ Bradley (0-1)
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 • 8:00 p.m. EST
Carver Arena (11,442) • Peoria, Ill.

Radio: 970 ESPN
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (play-by-play) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Video: BradleyBraves.com
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball

Quick Hits

- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team continues a five-game road trip Wednesday in Peoria, Ill., with an 8:00 p.m. tip against Bradley at Carver Arena.

- The Colonials opened their road swing with a 103-59 loss @ No. 6 North Carolina, which marked RMU's first game in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

- Robert Morris opened its 2014-15 campaign with a 77-50 loss to Lafayette (11/14/14) at the Charles L. Sewall Center. RMU dropped to 20-19 (.513) all-time in season openers with the setback.

- Freshman guard Marcquise Reed came off the bench to score a game-high 24 points against the Tar Heels, hitting 10 of his 15 shots from the field, including his only attempt from beyond the arc, while going 3-for-4 at the free-throw line.

- Reed was named the Choice Hotels Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week (11/17/14) after averaging 17.0 points in RMU's first two games while shooting 58.3 percent (14-for-24) from the field, including 40 percent (2-for-5) from beyond the arc.

- Freshman forward Elijah Minnie, who posted a game-high three blocks @ North Carolina, became the sixth true freshman in school history to earn a start in his first collegiate game against Lafayette (11/14/14). The other Colonials to garner the honor were Forest Grant (1980), Keith Jones (1995), Jeremy Chappell (2005), Jonathan Clark (2005) and Yann Charles (2010).

- Led by fifth-year head coach Andrew Toole, the Colonials return three starters and six letterwinners from a 2013-14 squad that finished with an overall record of 22-14 (.611), RMU's ninth straight winning season.

- Robert Morris claimed its 11th Northeast Conference regular-season championship in 2013-14 thanks to a mark of 14-2 (.875) in league play and despite falling in the title game of the 2014 NEC Tournament appeared in the postseason for the sixth time in the last seven years with an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

- The Colonials were picked third in the 2014 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, the ninth consecutive year RMU has been selected to finish in the top three in the league.

- Senior forward Lucky Jones, named to the 2014 Preseason All-NEC Team, is RMU's active leading scorer and rebounder with career totals of 1,206 points and 670 rebounds.

- From 2007-08 through the 2013-14 campaign, Robert Morris compiled an overall record of 163-81 (.668), with the 163 victories tied for seventh with Akron among mid-major programs in the seven-year span.

- Robert Morris continues its five-game road trip after its first meeting in school history with Bradley Wednesday by returning to play in the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis. The Colonials will travel to Washington, D.C., for a Noon tip against Georgetown Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Verizon Center.

Home On The Road - Freshman guard Marcquise Reed etched his name in the Robert Morris record book by scoring a game-high 24 points @ No. 6 North Carolina (11/16/14) as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Reed established a record for most points scored by a freshman playing his first road game, eclipsing the 22 points former guard Myron Walker (1990-94) scored in a 99-94 victory @ Dayton (12/19/90). Walker, the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,965 points, was playing in his first Division I game at Robert Morris when he posted his performance against the Flyers.

Reserve Clause - Thanks to the contributions of freshman guard Marcquise Reed, the Robert Morris bench enters Wednesday's game @ Bradley averaging 31.5 points in two games, a margin of +12.5. The group is shooting 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from the field, a stark contrast from the starters, which have shot just 22.8 percent (13-for-57).

Protect The Rim - It's early in the 2014-15 campaign, but if there is one thing that freshman forward Elijah Minnie has proven, it's that he can be a force in the paint on the defensive end. In helping the Colonials post six blocks @ North Carolina (11/16/14) in RMU's first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, Minnie rejected a game-high three shots. He recorded a pair of blocks in his collegiate debut against Lafayette (11/14/14) and through two games already owns five blocks. The single-season school record for the category of 35 was established during the 2008-09 campaign by former forward Rob Robinson (2008-10).

Veteran Struggles - Robert Morris entered the 2014-15 season with three starters and six letterwinners returning from last season, and the group has gotten off to a slow start. Senior forward Lucky Jones, senior guards David Appolon and Charles Oliver, junior forward Stephan Bennett and sophomore guard Kavon Stewart have combined to shoot just 20.7 percent (12-for-58) from the field, including 5-for-22 (22.7%) from beyond the arc, in the first two games of the year. Despite combining to shoot 76.6 percent (23-for-30) from the free-throw line, the group has supplied an average of 26.0 points over the first two games.

Did You Know? Forwards Lucky Jones (246) and Aaron Tate (158) were RMU's top two rebounders in 2013-14, combining to finish with 404 caroms on the year. Jones and Tate are just the sixth duo in school history to combine for at least 400 rebounds in a season and the first since former Colonials Jeremy Chappell and Rob Robinson combined for exactly 400 caroms during the 2008-09 campaign. Tate will make his 2014-15 debut Wednesday @ Bradley after sitting out the first two games of the year due to a violation of team rules.

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