Men's Basketball | 11/12/2015 10:54:00 AM

GAME 1
Robert Morris (0-0) @ Penn (0-0)
Friday, November 13, 2015 • 5:30 p.m.
The Palestra (8,722) • Philadelphia, Pa.
 
Radio: ESPN 970 AM & 1630 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (play-by-play) & Jim Elias (color)
Video: ESPN3 & Ivy Digital Sports Network
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opens its 2015-16 regular season and 40th season of Division I basketball Friday with a 5:30 p.m. tip against Penn at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa.
 
- Robert Morris returns four starters and six letterwinners from a 2014-15 squad that finished with an overall record of 20-15 (.571), including a 12-6 (.667) mark in the Northeast Conference. The Colonials posted their 10th consecutive winning season.
 
- RMU earned its eighth NEC Tournament title and subsequent bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and posted its first victory in the Big Dance since 1983 and second overall in program history with an 81-77 win over North Florida (3/18/15) in the 2015 NCAA First Four. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Colonials fell to eventual national champion Duke (3/20/15), 85-56.
 
- RMU was tabbed second in the 2015 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, the 10th consecutive year the Colonials have been picked to finish in the top three in the league. Senior guard Rodney Pryor was named to the Preseason All-NEC Team.
 
- Robert Morris opened its 2015-16 season with a 77-57 exhibition victory over Saint Vincent (11/3/15) at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Freshman guard Matty McConnell paced the Colonials in the win over the Bearcats with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, including a 7-for-12 perfromance from beyond the arc. 
 
- Entering Friday's game @ Penn, RMU owns an overall record of 20-19 (.513) in season openers, including a mark of 3-2 (.600) under sixth-year head coach Andrew Toole. The Colonials are just 3-15 (.167) in season openers on the road, with their last win coming  with a 96-86 victory @ UMKC (11/22/02) to christen the 2002-03 campaign.
 
- Pryor led the Colonials in scoring last season at 15.6 points per game and was named the 2015 NEC Tournament MVP. In three games of the NEC Tournament, Pryor averaged 14.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game and scored a team-high 17 points in the NEC Tournament championship game, a 66-63 win @ St. Francis Brooklyn (3/10/15).
 
- Since the beginning of the 2007-08 season, RMU has compiled an overall record of 183-96 (.656), with the 183 victories ranking ninth among mid-major programs in the last eight years. The Colonials have won at least 20 games in seven of the last eight seasons and have also appeared in seven postseason tournaments, including three appearances each in the NCAA Tournament (2009, 2010, 2105) and NIT (2008, 2013, 2014) as well as the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).
 
- Robert Morris opens the 2015-16 season with a pair of road games, as the Colonials will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, to face the University of Cincinnati Sunday, Nov. 15, after taking on Penn. RMU opens the home portion of its 2015-16 slate Wednesday, Nov. 18, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Bucknell at the Sewall Center.

 
 
Quotable - Head Coach Andrew Toole
"For us the challenge is trying to prepare our guys properly to face a variety of different things. We've concentrated on the things we do well, but we have to able to adjust on the fly since Penn has a new coach and new personnel. We need to be prepared to play good defense and play smart on offense."

Saint Vincent Tidbits - Robert Morirs opened its 2015-16 season with a 77-57 exhibition victory over Saint Vincent (11/3/15) at the Charles L. Sewall Center ... The Colonials shot 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the field in the first half en route to a 38-26 edge at the halftime and converted 55.8 percent (29-for-52) of its shots overall ... Senior guard Rodney Pryor scored 14 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out six assists ... Junior guard Kavon Stewart contributed eight points, six assists and three steals ... Off the bench RMU's leading scorer was freshman guard Steven Whitley, who finished with nine points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting, including 1-for-1 from deep ... Robert Morris held a 23-12 edge in points off turnovers.
 
The Leader - Robert Morris head coach Andrew Toole picked up career victory No. 100 thanks to a 67-65 win @ St. Francis Brooklyn (1/24/15). In five seasons leading the Colonials, Tooled has posted an overall record of 110-65 (.629), including a mark of 65-23 (.739) against the Northeast Conference. Toole is just the second head coach in program history to eclipse 100 career wins, joining former head coach Jarrett Durham, who posted an overall record of 157-183 (.462) from 1984 to 1996. Toole is also the fastest to 100 career wins in Northeast Conference history, reaching the plateau in 160 contests.
 
Open Sesame - RMU is in search of its first road victory to open a season in almost 13 years Friday when it tips off the 2015-16 campaign in Philadelphia, Pa., against Penn at the Palestra. Overall in program history, the Colonials own a record of 3-15 (.167) in season openers on the road. A closer look at each of RMU's three road victories to open a new season ...
 

Opponent	Site	Date	Result
@ West Virginia	Morgantown, W. Va.	11/26/88	W, 75-67
@ West Virginia	Morgantown, W. Va.	11/25/89	W, 67-64
@ UMKC	Kansas City, Mo.	11/22/02	W, 96-85

Notes: Robert Morris has dropped five consecutive season openers on the road ... Former forward Aaron Thomas (2000-04) established a single-game school record with a career-high 39 points in RMU's victory @ UMKC, only to have it broken four days later ... Former forward Vaughn Luton (1986-89) paced the Colonials in a 75-67 victory @ West Virginia to open the 1988-89 season with 27 points ... Former guards Andre Boyd (1987-91) and Scott Shepherd (1988-91) combined for 28 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor in a 67-64 win @ West Virginia to christen the 1989-90 season.
 
The Floor General - The 2015-16 campaign will mark junior guard Kavon Stewart's second full season as the starting point guard for Robert Morris. He enters the year with 240 career assists in 64 games, an average of 3.75 per contest. Stewart needs 60 dimes to become the 14th player in program history to eclipse 300 career assists and is 145 dimes short of cracking the top 10 in school history in the category. In helping lead RMU to the 2015 Northeast Conference Tournament title last year, Stewart ranked second in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84) and fourth in assists per game (4.59). Stewart has also proven to be adept on defense, as he ranked fourth in the NEC last season in steals (1.65 per game) and enters this season with 89 career thefts.
 
Southpaw - Voted the 2015 Northeast Conference Tournament MVP, there wasn't a member of the Colonials hotter during the stretch run of the 2014-15 campaign than junior guard Rodney Pryor. Pryor reached double figures in scoring in each of his last 10 games, averaging 20.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists during that span. Pryor shot 52 percent (78-for-150) from the field during that stretch, including 49.2 percent (32-for-65) from deep, and 66.7 percent (16-for-24) at the free-throw line. Robert Morris finished with a record of 19-7 (.731) in 2014-15 when Pryor scored in double figures, including a mark of 8-2 (.800) when he eclipsed the 20-point plateau.
 
Fresh Prince - Freshman guard Matty McConnell, who started in a 77-57 exhibition victory over Saint Vincent (11/3/15) and scored a game-high 23 points, is looking to become just the seventh true freshman to earn a start in his collegiate debut in the program's 40-year Division I history. Should McConnell earn the start in RMU's 2015-16 season opener @ Penn, he would also be the third true freshman to start his first Division I game under sixth-year head coach Andrew Toole, joining Yann Charles (2010) and Elijah Minnie (2014). Also earning starts in their first collegiate games were Forest Grant (1980), Keith Jones (1995), Jeremy Chappell (2005) and Jonathan Clark (2005).
 
The Chase for 1,000 - Senior guard Rodney Pryor is RMU's active leading scorer as the Colonials get set to open the 2015-16 season Friday @ Penn. The junior college transfer scored 546 points in his first season in a Robert Morris uniform in 2014-15, a total that ranks eighth in the single-season record book. Pryor is looking to become the second player in the last three years to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau in just two seasons at RMU. Former guard Karvel Anderson scored 1,123 points in 69 career games from 2012 to 2014. Based on RMU's 31-game regular-season schedule in 2015-16, Pryor needs to average 14.6 points per game this year to reach 1,000 career points.
 
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