Men's Basketball | 3/1/2016 2:06:00 PM

GAME 32
#8 Robert Morris (10-21) @ #1 Wagner (20-9)
2016 Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 2, 2016 • 7:00 p.m.
Spiro Sports Center (2,100) • Staten Island, N.Y.
 
Radio: ESPN 970 AM & 106.3 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Elias (color)
Video: NECFrontRow.com • WagnerAthletics.com
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team begins its quest for a league-high ninth Northeast Conference Tournament championship Wednesday with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Wagner on Staten Island, N.Y., at the Spiro Sports Center. RMU is making its second appearance in the NEC Tournament as a No. 8 seed.
- Sixth-year head coach Andrew Toole has compiled a record of 10-4 (.714) in the Northeast Conference Tournament. The 10 victories are tied for the most in program history with former head coach Jarrett Durham, who finished with a record of 10-8 (.556) in 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996.
 
- The Colonials are playing their first NEC Tournament quarterfinal game on the road since March 2, 2006, when former guard Jeremy Chappell (2005-09) hit a three-pointer with 12.3 seconds remaining that lifted RMU to a 67-66 victory @ Mount St. Mary's. In that contest Robert Morris was the No. 5 seed.

- RMU will be squaring off against Wagner in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals for the second straight year. Last season the Colonials earned a 91-68 win over the Seahawks at the Charles L. Sewall Center (3/4/15). Robert Morris owns a record of 4-2 (.667) all-time against Wagner in the NEC Tournament, including 3-2 (.600) in the quarterfinals.
 
- In a vote of NEC head coaches, senior guard Rodney Pryor was named to the 2016 All-NEC First Team. Pryor is RMU's active leading scorer (1,058) and rebounder (388) and leads the Colonials this season with averages of 18.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest. He ranks 20th all-time in school history in points.
 
- Robert Morris led the Northeast Conference in steals against league foes for the seventh time in the last nine years, finishing with an average of 8.94 thefts per game. Overall, the Colonials enter the 2016 NEC Tournament leading the league in steals with an average of 8.29 per contest.
 
- RMU concluded its 2015-16 regular season by dropping a 62-54 decision @ Wagner (2/27/16). Freshman guard Isaiah Still paced the Colonials with 15 points and also added four rebounds and three steals, while senior guard Rodney Pryor notched his eighth double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 boards. Robert Morris finished with a record of 5-4 (.556) in NEC road games in 2015-16.
 
- RMU opened its final road swing of the 2015-16 campaign with a 73-63 victory @ Sacred Heart (2/25/16). Senior guard Rodney Pryor paced RMU with a game-high 26 points while adding nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
 
- Junior forward Billy Giles contributed 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in the win over the Pioneers, while freshman guard Isaiah Still finished with 13 points and two assists. Junior guard Kavon Stewart also reached double figures in scoring, contributing 11 points while adding five rebounds and six assists.


 
NEC Tournament Quick Hits - A charter member of the Northeast Conference, Robert Morris has appeared in the NEC Tournament 32 out of a possible 35 times … RMU's 39 victories in the NEC Tournament are the most by any institution in the history of the tournament … The Colonials own a record of 27-8 (.771) in tournament games played at home, including a record of 22-7 (.759) in games at the Charles L. Sewall Center, 7-8 (.467) in road games and a mark of 5-7 (.417) in neutral site contests ... RMU has appeared in the NEC Tournament in each of the past 13 seasons, advancing to the semifinals 10 times over that span and the NEC Championship game six times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015) ... RMU has hosted the NEC Tournament championship game six times (1983, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2009, 2014), with the Colonials 5-1 (.833) in those games ... RMU is 3-2 (.600) in NEC Tournament championship games on the road, with victories @ LIU Brooklyn (1982), Quinnipiac (2010) and St. Francis Brooklyn (2015) and a pair of losses @ LIU Brooklyn (2011, 2012) ...  Robert  Morris is one of four programs in the NEC to have won back-to-back league titles, having accomplished the feat three times (1982 & 1983, 1989 & 1990 and 2009 & 2010) ... The Colonials have advanced to the semifinals of the NEC Tournament 19 times, the most in league history.
 
Wagner Tidbits - Wagner swept the season series from Robert Morris for the first time since 2002-03 ... RMU was outrebounded, 43-31, including 14-9 on the offensive glass ... Wagner held a 20-10 edge in second-chance points ... Robert Morris converted just 58.3 percent (14-for-24) of its attempts at the free-throw line ... The 17 rebounds by Michael Carey tied a season high by an RMU opponent, as Pascal Siakam of New Mexico State also corralled 17 caroms against the Colonials ... The Seahawks finished with 20 turnovers against the Colonials, tying a season high by a Robert Morris foe ... Wagner also finished with 20 turnovers in a 72-69 victory at the Charles L. Sewall Center (1/4/16) ... The Seahawks connected for just a trio of three-pointers against RMU, tying a season low by an opponent.
 
Thievery - Robert Morris enters the 2016 Northeast Conference Tournament with the top two pick pockets in the league, as freshman guard Matty McConnell and junior guard Kavon Stewart rank first and second, respectively, in the NEC in steals per game. McConnell has recorded 54 steals in 28 games, an average of 1.93 per contest. Stewart, meanwhile, is averaging 1.80 thefts per contest thanks to the same number of steals as McConnell, 54, in 30 games. McConnell enters Wednesday's game @ Wagner have recorded 14 steals over the last five games, an average of 2.8 per contest, and his 54 steals on the year are the most by a freshman since former guard Jeremy Chappell (2005-09) also recorded 54 thefts in his rookie campaign in 2005-06. 
 
Still Of The Night - Freshman guard Isaiah Still has been a consistent presence on offense as Robert Morris enters the 2016 Northeast Conference Tournament. Still has reached double figures in each of his last seven games after leading the Colonials @ Wagner (2/27/16) with 15 points. During that stretch, Still has produced averages of 16.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest. Where Still has really excelled has been at the free-throw line. Over his last six games, Still has converted 75.6 percent (34-for-45) of his attempts at the stripe, averaging 7.5 trips to the line per game. In 22 games prior to that stretch, Still shot 62.5 percent (45-for-72) at the chalk.
 
Pryor Commitment - Senior guard Rodney Pryor helped RMU secure a 73-63 victory @ Sacred Heart (2/25/16) by scoring a game-high 26 points. Pryor's performance marked the 23rd time in his career he has eclipsed the 20-point plateau, tying former Colonials Chipper Harris (1980-84) and Chaz McCrommon (2000-05) for seventh place in school history for 20-point scoring games. Overall, Pryor has reached double figures in scoring 53 times in his two-year career. Pryor enters the 2016 Northeast Conference Tournament having scored at least 20 points in 10 of the 17 road games he's played in this season, averaging 19.4 points per contest over that span. 
 
Billy The Kid - While the calendar has flipped to March, junior forward Billy Giles will look to continue the momentum he built up during the month of February. In eight games last month, Giles averaged 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting a white hot 71.4 percent (50-for-70) from the field. The surge has Giles atop the Northeast Conference leaderboard in field goal percentage, as he enters the 2016 NEC Tournament pacing the circuit in the category at 61.3 percent (117-for-191). Giles is looking to become just the fourth student-athlete in program history to shoot at least 60 percent from the field in a season. His current success rate ranks third in the RMU single-season record book.
 
The Floor General - The 2015-16 campaign marks junior guard Kavon Stewart's second full season as the starting point guard for Robert Morris. Thanks to a game-high six assists in RMU's 2015-16 Northeast Conference opener against Sacred Heart (1/2/16), Stewart became the 14th player in program history to eclipse 300 career assists. He enters Wednesday's game with 379 career assists in 94 games, an average of 4.03 per contest, and is six dimes short of cracking the top 10 in school history in the category. Stewart is also RMU's active leader in steals with 143 career thefts.
 
Joining The Club - Thanks to hitting a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to play that helped secure a 74-67 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16), senior guard Rodney Pryor became the latest member of the RMU 1,000-Point Club. He finished with a game-high 24 points against the Blackbirds and in the process became the 24th member of the club. Pryor is the second player in the last three years to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau in just two seasons at Robert Morris, joining former guard Karvel Anderson, who scored 1,123 points in 69 career games from 2012 to 2014. Pryor, who owns 1,058 career points, is also the fourth player in school history, and third at the Division I level, to score at least 1,000 points while playing just two years.

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