Charlottesville, Va. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball concluded the road portion of its 2016-17 non-conference slate with a 79-39 loss to No. 13 Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers (9-1), who entered the game ranked first in the nation in scoring defense, held their eighth opponent of the 2016-17 campaign to 52 points or less.
Robert Morris (3-9), which established a school record for fewest points scored in a game, grabbed a 13-12 lead when freshman guard
Dachon Burke came up with a steal and raced the length of the court for a dunk.
The Cavaliers responded by outscoring the Colonials, 20-5, over the final 6:22 of the first half to grab a 32-18 edge at the break. Devon Hall was the main offensive sparkplug for UVA, scoring 11 points, including a 4-for-4 performance at the free-throw line.
RMU shot just 30.4 percent (7-for-23) from the field in the first half, including 25 percent (2-for-8) from beyond the arc, and hit just two of its six attempts (33.3%) at the free-throw line.
Virginia kept its momentum in the second half, opening the stanza on an 18-3 surge to grab a 50-21 lead. The Cavaliers shot 73.1 percent (19-for-26) from the field in the second half and 59.6 percent (31-for-52) overall while posting 21 assists on their 31 field goals.
"We fought to start the game, but you have to give credit to Virginia, because they wore us down," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "They have so much size, and we just couldn't sustain the effort. What we have to think about moving forward is that we want to be the NEC version of Virginia. We want to be stingy and relentless on defense, share the basketball and get balanced scoring."
Sophomore guard
Isaiah Still led the Colonials with a game-high 16 points, finishing 5-for-10 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, while going 4-for-8 at the free-throw line. He was the only RMU student-athlete to reach double figures.
Hall and Kyle Guy each finished with 13 points to pace Virginia. Jack Salt and Jarred Reuter each contributed 10 points.
RMU concludes the non-conference portion of its 2016-17 schedule by hosting Buffalo at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa., Wednesday, Dec. 21. Tip is 7:00 p.m.
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