GAME 24
Robert Morris  (7-16, 3-7 NEC) @ LIU Brooklyn (14-9, 7-3 NEC)
Thursday, February 2, 2017 • 7:00 p.m.
Steinberg Wellness Center (2,500) • Brooklyn, N.Y.

Radio: ESPN 970 AM and 106.3 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Video: NECFrontRow.com • LIUAthletics.com 
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team continues a four-game road swing Thursday with its annual swing through Brooklyn, N.Y. The Colonials open the trip with a 7:00 p.m. tip against LIU Brooklyn at the Steinberg Wellness Center.
 
- RMU closed the month of January with an 89-83 overtime loss @ Saint Francis U (1/28/17). The extra frame featured five ties and six lead changes, with the Red Flash taking control when Isaiah Blackmon buried a three-pointer with 27 seconds to go. Overall the game featured eight ties and 13 lead changes.
 
- Sophomore guard Matty McConnell paced the Colonials @ SFU by tying a career high with 16 points while also grabbing six rebounds. Redshirt senior forward Aaron Tate established a career high with 15 points, while senior guard Kavon Stewart contributed 14 points, four assists and six assists.
 
- 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 1.91 per game thanks to 42 thefts in 22 games.
 
- Robert Morris announced Thursday, January 19, 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.


 
Saint Francis U Tidbits - Robert Morris has dropped four straight to the Red Flash as well as five of its last six ... RMU slipped to 6-4 (.600) in seven years under head coach Andrew Toole in overtime ... SFU shot 85.7 percent (6-for-7) from the floor in the extra frame, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while going 6-for-7 (85.7%) at the free-throw line ... Senior guard Kavon Stewart and sophomore guard Matty McConnell each scored five points in overtime to lead RMU ... The Colonials established season highs in points (89), field goals (31), field goal attempts (72) and assists (18) while tying a season high in three-point field goals (9) ... Over its last three road games, Robert Morris has nailed 25 three-point field goals in 69 attempts, a success rate of 36.2 percent ... RMU outscored Saint Francis U, 40-34, in points in the paint and also held a 12-8 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Close Out - Robert Morris enters Thursday's game @ LIU Brooklyn as one of the top teams in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal percent defense. The Colonials have held opponents to a shooting percentage of just 28.1 percent (106-for-377) from beyond the arc, which is tops in the Northeast Conference and ranks third in the country behind South Carolina (25.4 percent) and Morgan State (27.5 percent). RMU has held 15 of its 23 opponents to under 30 percent shooting from deep.  
 
Return Of The Mack - Sophomore guard Matty McConnell paced the Colonials @ Saint Francis U (1/28/17) with a career high 16 points, hitting five of his 12 shots from the floor, including 4-for-10 from beyond the arc, while going 2-for-2 at the free-throw line. He also tied for team-high honors in rebound with six. McConnell has found his groove in recent weeks, as he is averaging 11.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals over his last six games, reaching double figures four times. Against Northeast Conference opposition, McConnell is tied for second in the circuit in steals, producing an average of 2.10 per contest. In 28 career games against league foes, McConnell is averaging 2.29 thefts per game.
 
Stars and Stripes - Senior guard Kavon Stewart enters Thursday's game @ LIU Brooklyn having reached double figures in eight of his last 10 games, including each of his last four 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 80.8 percent (42-for-52) at the chalk, which ranks eighth 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 is tied for fifth all-time in program history with 321.
 
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 23 games, the Robert Morris underclassmen have supplied the Colonials with 53.3 percent (2,466-of-4,625) of the minutes played and 56.1 percent (810-of-1,442) of their scoring.

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