GAME 2
Robert Morris (0-1) @ DePaul (0-0)
Sunday, November 13, 2016 • 7:00 p.m.
McGrath-Phillips Arena (3,000) • Chicago, Ill.
Radio: 3WS HD
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Duzyk (color)
TV: Fox Sports 1
TV Talent: Jeff Levering (pxp) & Stephen Bardo (color)
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball Â
Quick Hits
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- The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team opens a six-game road trip Sunday with a 7:00 p.m. tip against DePaul at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago, Ill.
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- The Colonials christened the 2016-17 campaign and their 41st season of Division I basketball with a 67-50 setback to Penn (11/11/16) at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Sophomore guard
Isaiah Still paced RMU with 15 points and added six rebounds and a steal.
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- RMU was tabbed sixth in the 2016 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, the program's lowest preseason prediction since being selected to finish 10th in 2005. The Colonials had been picked to finish in the top three, but never the preseason favorite, for 10 consecutive years from 2006 to 2015.
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- Guard
Kavon Stewart supplied Robert Morris with averages of 9.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in 2015-16. He also finished second for the Colonials in steals with 55 and enters Sunday's game @ DePaul having recorded at least one theft in 10 consecutive games.
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- Forward
Aaron Tate, who played only three games in 2015-16 before sitting out the rest of the season due to injury, returns for his redshirt senior season in 2016-17. In RMU's 2016-17 season opener against Penn (11/11/16), Tate finished with three points, a team-high eight rebounds and a block. He is the program's active career leader in rebounds with 319.
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- Robert Morris continues its six-game road swing with a 7:00 p.m. tip @ Bucknell (11/16/16) in Lewisburg, Pa., after taking on the Blue Demons Sunday. The Colonials will also play four games on the road as the part of the Barclays Classic, beginning Sunday, Nov. 20, with a 1:30 p.m. tip @ Richmond.
Penn Tidbits - Robert Morris slipped to 20-21 (.488) all-time in season openers with its setback to the Quakers, including 3-4 (.429) under seventh-year head coach
Andrew Toole ... RMU shot just 25 percent (8-for-32) in the first half and 29.3 percent (17-for-58) overall ... Senior guard
Kavon Stewart tied a career high with seven rebounds ... RMU's frontcourt of forwards
Aaron Tate,
Billy Giles and
Roberto Mantovani and freshman center
Braden Burke combined to shoot an even 50 percent (8-for-16) from the floor ... The rest of RMU's lineup converted just 21.4 (9-for-42) of its shots.
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Firestarter - For the third consecutive year head coach
Andrew Toole started a true freshman in the first game of a season, as forward/center
Braden Burke got the call against Penn (11/11/16). Burke is the eighth true freshman to earn a start in his collegiate debut in the program's 41-year Division I history. Burke joins Yann Charles (2010), Elijah Minnie (2014) and
Matty McConnell (2015) to earn starts in their first collegiate game under Toole. Also earning starts in their first collegiate games were Forest Grant (1980), Keith Jones (1995), Jeremy Chappell (2005) and Jonathan Clark (2005).
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The Floor General - Senior guard
Kavon Stewart dished out four assists in RMU's 2016-17 season opener against Penn (11/11/16) and in the process took over sole possession of 10th place in the RMU career record book for dimes. Stewart owns 389 career assists and needs 46 to move into ninth place. Stewart would need to average 5.6 assists per game over RMU's final 30 games of the 2016-17 regular season to become the program's all-time leader in dimes. The RMU career school record of 555 assists was established by former guard Forest Grant from 1980 to 1984.
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Still Of The Night - Sophomore guard
Isaiah Still was a consistent presence on offense for Robert Morris during the stretch run of the 2015-16 campaign and continued that trend against Penn (11/11/16) in the 2016-17 season opener. Thanks to a team-high 15 points, Still has now reached double figures in each of his last nine games dating back to last season. During that span, Still has produced averages of 16.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest. Where Still really has excelled is at the free-throw line. Over his last eight games, Still has converted 75.4 percent (46-for-61) of his attempts at the stripe, averaging 6.8 trips to the line per game.
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Did You Know? In six seasons under head coach
Andrew Toole, Robert Morris has compiled a record of 71-26 (.732) when scoring at least 70 points in a game. Included in that record is a mark of 28-3 (.903) when eclipsing the 80-point plateau.
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