GAME 23
Robert Morris (7-15, 3-6 NEC) @ Saint Francis U (8-12, 5-4 NEC)
Saturday, January 28, 2017 • 7:00 p.m.
DeGol Arena (3,500) • Loretto, Pa.

Radio: ESPN 970 AM and 106.3 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Video: NECFrontRow.com • SFUAthletics.com

Quick Hits 
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team concludes its January slate Saturday with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Saint Francis U at DeGol Arena in Loretto, Pa. It marks the second contest in a four-game road trip.
 
- RMU dropped the opening game of its four-game road swing with a 48-47 loss @ Mount St. Mary's (1/26/17). The Colonials had numerous opportunities to either tie or take the lead in the final minute but went just 1-for-5 at the free-throw line while also suffering a turnover with 0.7 seconds on the clock in a last chance for the victory.
 
- Sophomore guard Isaiah Still paced the Colonials against the Mount with 14 points and also added five rebounds, while senior guard Kavon Stewart finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
- Robert Morris closed out a two-game homestand at the Charles L. Sewall Center with a 59-56 setback to Bryant (1/21/17). The Colonials let a 12-point lead in the second half slip away but still had two chances inside 25 seconds to either tie or take the lead. A pair of three-point attempts from sophomore guard Isaiah Still, however, were off the mark.
 
- Freshman guard Dachon Burke paced Robert Morris against Bryant with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the free-throw line. He also added six rebounds and a steal.
 
- Senior guard Kavon Stewart contributed 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and five steals against the Bulldogs. Stewart leads the Northeast Conference in steals with 1.95 per game thanks to 41 thefts in 21 games.
 
- The Colonials snapped a two-game slide by posting a 74-67 victory over Central Connecticut (1/19/17). Senior guard Kavon Stewart matched a season high in scoring by leading RMU with 21 points and also added five rebounds and six assists. Robert Morris shot a season-high 52 percent (26-for-50) from the field in the win.
 
- Sophomore guard Matty McConnell contributed 12 points against the Blue Devils, freshman guard Dachon Burke scored 11 and redshirt senior forward Aaron Tate registered 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
 
- Prior to its win over CCSU, Robert Morris announced it will break ground on the UPMC Events Center, a 140,000-square foot complex, in July. The Colonials will play their home games at Peoples Court, and the facility is slated to open in January of 2019. In addition, RMU extended the contract of head coach Andrew Toole one season through the 2020-21 campaign.
 
- While the UPMC Events Center is being built, RMU will play its home games at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Colonials will play their entire slate in 2017-18 at the facility as well as its non-conference schedule in 2018-19.


 
Mount St. Mary's Tidbits - Robert Morris dropped its third straight to Mount St. Mary's but owns a 32-30 (.516) edge in the all-time series ... The Colonials shot a season-high 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from beyond the arc and also established a season high in rebounds (49) but tied a season high in turnovers (25) ... RMU also finished with 25 turnovers @ Kansas State (11/22/16) ... Mount St. Mary's finished with 22 rebounds, a season low by a Robert Morris opponent ... The Colonials owned their biggest lead, 35-25, with 15:51 to play after a three-pointer from sophomore guard Isaiah Still ... RMU has held a double-digit advantage in six of its first nine Northeast Conference games but has just a 3-3 (.500) record in those contests ... The Colonials went 1-for-5 (20%) at the free-throw line in the final 1:16 of the game and 2-for-11 (18.2%) overall in the second half ... The success rate of 42.1 percent (8-for-19) overall on the game for Robert Morris at the stripe marked a season low.
 
First Time For Everything - In opening a four-game road trip with a 48-47 loss @ Mount St. Mary's (1/26/17), the setback marked the first time in school history Robert Morris held an opponent to under 50 points and lost. The Colonials entered the contest with an all-time record of 42-0 in the program's 41-year history when yielding less than 50 points in a game, including a mark of 11-0 under seventh-year head coach Andrew Toole. The previous low for points scored by an opponent in a win came Feb. 6, 1993, when Wagner earned a 51-48 victory over RMU at the Charles L. Sewall Center. The Colonials are now 27-1 (.964) against Northeast Conference foes when holding opponents to under 50 points. Included in that record is a 3-0 mark in the NEC Tournament.
 
Surf Board - The Colonials have been bolstered by the return of forward Aaron Tate in 2016-17, especially on the glass. Tate appeared in RMU's first three games of the 2015-16 campaign before being shut down with a season-ending injury and is the program's active career leader in rebounds with 467. He has a chance to join the 500-Rebound Club in his final season of eligibility. Tate has led the Colonials in rebounding in 14 of their 22 games of 2016-17 and owns a team-high 156 boards. He needs to average 3.7 caroms per contest over RMU's final nine games of the regular season to become the 18th member of the club.
 
Stars and Stripes - Senior guard Kavon Stewart enters Saturday's game @ Saint Francis U having reached double figures in seven of his last nine games, including each of his last three games. Included in that stretch, Stewart tied a season high in scoring with 21 points in a 74-67 victory over Central Connecticut (1/19/17). Against Northeast Conference opponents this season, Stewart is shooting 84.8 percent (39-for-46) at the chalk, which ranks seventh in the circuit. Thanks to an 8-for-9 performance at the line against CCSU, Stewart became the seventh player in school history to convert at least 300 free throws. He ranks sixth all-time in program history with 318.
 
Did You Know? Over his last nine games, senior guard Kavon Stewart is averaging 12.8 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game while converting 82.1 percent (46-for-56) of his attempts at the free-throw line. Thanks to 13 points against Bryant (1/21/17), Stewart became the 27th player in school history to reach double figures at least 40 times.
 
Under/Over - The 2016-17 version of the Colonials are one of the youngest teams in head coach Andrew Toole's seven-year tenure at RMU, as three freshman and three sophomores help make up the rotation. Through 21 games, the Robert Morris underclassmen have supplied the Colonials with 52.9 percent (2,327-of-4,400) of the minutes played and 57.3 percent (767-of-1,339) of their scoring.
 
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