GAME 5
Robert Morris (0-4) @ New Mexico State (3-1)
AIR FORCE CLASSIC
Tuesday, November 24, 2015 • 9:30 p.m. EST
Pan American Center (12,482) • Las Cruces, N.M.
 
Radio: ESPN 970 AM & 106.3 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Video: ESPN3 • NewMexicoStateSports.com
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team continues play in the Air Force Classic as well as a five-game road trip Tuesday with a 9:30 p.m. eastern tip against New Mexico State at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M.
 
- The Colonials opened play in the Air Force Classic with a 64-52 setback @ Air Force (11/22/15). RMU slipped to 0-4 for the first time since 2001-02 with the loss.
 
- Senior guard Rodney Pryor paced RMU against the Falcons with his first double-double of the 2015-16 campaign and second of his career with a game-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Pryor shot 9-for-18 from the floor, including 4-for-10 from beyond the arc, and was a perfect 3-for-3 at the free-throw line.
 
- Also reaching double figures @ Air Force (11/22/15) was sophomore forward Elijah Minnie, who scored 10 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.
 
- RMU dropped its 2015-16 home opener to Bucknell (11/18/15), 81-76, at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Senior guard Rodney Pryor led four players in double figures for Robert Morris with 15 points and also added six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
 
- Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Colonials against the Bison were junior guard Kavon Stewart (14), freshman guard Isaiah Still (13) and sophomore guard Andre Frederick (10). Still was making his first collegiate start against Bucknell, while Frederick posted his first career double-figure scoring game.
 
- 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, who led RMU in scoring last season at 15.6 points per game, was named to the 2015 Preseason All-NEC Team.
 
- From the 2007-08 season through 2014-15, Robert Morris compiled an overall record of 183-96 (.656), with the 183 victories ranking ninth among mid-major programs in the eight-year span. The Colonials have won at least 20 games in seven of the last eight years and have also appeared in seven postseason tournaments, including three appearances each in the NCAA Tournament (2009, 2010, 2015) and NIT (2008, 2013, 2014) as well as the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).


 
Air Force Tidbits - The meeting between the Falcons and Colonials was the first in the all-time series between the two programs ... Senior guard Rodney Pryor shot an even 50 percent (9-for-18) from the floor against the Falcons, but the rest of the team shot just 26.8 percent (11-for-41) from the field ... As a team Robert Morris shot 33.9 percent (20-for-59) ... Air Force held a 47-36 edge on the glass and outscored RMU, 42-12, in points in the paint ... The Falcons shot 51.6 percent (16-for-31) from the field in the second half and 37.9 percent (25-for-66) overall ... Robert Morris held a 22-21 edge at halftime, the first time during the 2015-16 season the Colonials held an advantage at the break.
 
Smooth Start - Senior guard Rodney Pryor has taken home team-high honors in scoring in each of RMU's first four games of the 2015-16 campaign, averaging 21.3 points per contest while shooting 47 percent (31-for-66) from the field. Pryor is the first member of the Colonials to open the season with a scoring average of at least 20.0 points per contest through four games since former forward A.J. Jackson (2003-08) in 2006-07. During that season, Jackson averaged 24.0 points in RMU's first four games in helping the Colonials open the year with a perfect 4-0 record.
 
Picking Up Where He Left Off - Senior guard Rodney Pryor, who was tabbed to the 2015 Preseason All-NEC Team, picked up where he left off from last season in RMU's first four games of the 2015-16 season. Thanks to a team-high 25 points @ Air Force (11/22/15), Pryor enters Tuesday's game @ New Mexico State having reached double figures in scoring in each of his last 14 games dating back to last season. During that stretch, Pryor is averaging 20.6 points per contest while converting an average of 3.14 three-pointers per game.
 
Steal City - Robert Morris has consistently been at the top of the Northeast Conference leaderboard in steals throughout head coach Andrew Toole's tenure, as the Colonials have topped the circuit three times (2012, 2013, 2014) under Toole and five times in the last eight years. Through RMU's first four games of the 2015-16 campaign, the Colonials rank third in the NEC in steals at 8.50 per game. Junior guard Kavon Stewart leads Robert Morris in the early going this season with seven thefts, an average of 1.75 per contest.
 
The Floor General - The 2015-16 campaign marks junior guard Kavon Stewart's second full season as the starting point guard for Robert Morris. He enters Tuesday's game @ New Mexico State with 254 career assists in 68 games, an average of 3.74 per contest. Stewart needs 46 dimes to become the 14th player in program history to eclipse 300 career assists and is 131 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 Tuesday's game with 96 career thefts.
 
The Chase for 1,000 - Senior guard Rodney Pryor is RMU's active leading scorer with 631 points as the Colonials continue play in the Air Force Classic Tuesday @ New Mexico State. Pryor has scored a team-high 85 points in four games, a year after leading the Colonials with 546 points last season, and he 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. Pryor needs to average 13.7 points over RMU's final 27 games of the 2015-16 campaign to eclipse 1,000 career points. He would be the fourth player in school history, and third at the Division I level, to score at least 1,000 points playing just two years.
 
Keep On Rockin ... As part of the Air Force Classic, Robert Morris travels to Las Cruces, N.M., to take on New Mexico State. The home of the Aggies, the Pan American Center, will become the 10th arena that the Colonials have played in that has also featured a concert by Pearl Jam since the band's formation in 1990. Also included is Time Warner Cable Arena (Charlotte, N.C.), the Verizon Center (Washington, D.C.), Rupp Arena (Lexington, Ky.), the Palace at Auburn Hills (Detroit, Mich.), the Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.), Savage Arena (Toledo, Ohio), the Wolstein Center (Cleveland, Ohio), the Bryce Jordan Center (State College, Pa.) and the A.J. Palumbo Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

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