GAME 30
Fairleigh Dickinson (11-16, 9-7 NEC) vs. RMU (11-18, 7-9 NEC)
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • 7:00 p.m.
Charles L. Sewall Center (3,056) • Moon Township, Pa.

Radio: ESPN 970 AM and 106.3 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Elias (color)
Video: NECFrontRow.com • RMUColonials.com 
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team wraps up its 2016-17 regular season with its last two games in program history at the Charles L. Sewall Center. The Colonials welcome Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
 
- In 32 seasons at the Sewall Center, RMU has posted an overall record of 276-149 (.649), including a mark of 173-106 (.620) against Northeast Conference foes. The Colonials own a mark of 64-32 (.667) in the venue under seventh-year head coach Andrew Toole. The most wins by a Robert Morris head coach at the Sewall Center is by Jarrett Durham, who posted a 93-51 (.646) record from 1985 to 1996.
 
- RMU concluded the road portion of its 2016-17 regular-season slate with a 74-64 victory @ Central Connecticut (2/18/17). Sophomore guard Isaiah Still paced the Colonials with 22 points and added eight rebounds. Still enters Thursday's game having reached double figures in each of his last six games, averaging 19.0 points and 7.0 rebounds over that span while shooting 42.7 percent (38-for-89) from the floor.
 
- Freshman guard Clive Allen contributed a career-high 12 points off the bench in RMU's win over the Blue Devils and also added two assists and a block. Redshirt senior forward Aaron Tate added 10 points and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds.
 
- Over his last seven games, a stretch in which Robert Morris owns a record of 4-3 (.571), redshirt senior forward Aaron Tate is averaging 8.9 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 71 percent (22-for-31) from the floor and 75 percent (18-for-24) at the free-throw line.
 
- Thanks to a 4-2 (.667) this month heading into its final two games of the regular season, Robert Morris has improved to 40-13 (.755) in seven seasons under head coach Andrew Toole. During the month of February the Colonials are allowing an average of 64.0 points per contest on 39.6 percent (125-for-316) shooting from the field. 
 
- Thanks to a career-high 14 rebounds @ Bryant (2/16/17), redshirt senior forward Aaron Tate became the 18th member of the RMU 500-Rebound Club. He enters Thursday's game against Fairleigh Dickinson ranked 16th all-time in program history with 510 caroms.   
 
- Robert Morris announced Thursday, January 19, 2017, in a press conference at the Charles L. Sewall Center 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, Robert Morris 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.
 
 
Central Connecticut Tidbits - The Colonials swept the 2016-17 season series from the Blue Devils and improved to 23-16 (.605) all-time against Central Connecticut State ... RMU held a 39-36 edge in rebounding despite being outrebounded, 14-8, on the offensive glass ... Freshman guard Clive Allen scored a career-high 12 points off the bench as the Robert Morris reserves outscored the CCSU bench, 20-13 ... In scoring 22 points, sophomore guard Isaiah Still converted five of his 10 shots from inside the three-point arc ... In his last six games, Still has shot 52.6 percent (30-for-57) from the field in two-point attempts ... The Colonials scored 21 points off 15 turnovers by the Blue Devils.
 
Toe The Line - In a 74-64 victory @ Central Connecticut (2/18/17) in which Robert Morris concluded the road portion of its 2016-17 regular-season slate, the Colonials shot 72.1 percent at the free-throw line, converting 31 of their 43 opportunities. It marks the most free throws for RMU in seven years under head coach Andrew Toole, and the 31 conversions at the charity stripe against the Blue Devils are the most by the Colonials in a game in almost 25 years.  In a 76-74 setback @ Saint Francis U (2/11/93), Robert Morris finished 33-for-42 (78.6 percent) at the chalk. The school record for free throws is 34, set against the Red Flash in an 87-65 win at the Charles L. Sewall Center (2/3/90) and was matched in a 103-98 overtime victory @ Wagner (1/12/91).
 
Surf Board - Redshirt senior forward Aaron Tate joined the RMU 500-Rebound Club in the opening tilt of a two-game swing through New England by registering his second career double-double courtesy of 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds @ Bryant (2/16/17). Tate grabbed his 500th career board at the 8:36 mark of the second half thanks to an offensive rebound, one of his nine on the game. Tate is the 18th member of the club and through 29 games this season has led the Colonials in caroms a total of 16 times. Tate, who averages 6.9 rebounds per contest, is on pace to finish the regular season with a career total of 524 rebounds.
 
Close Out - Robert Morris enters opens its final homestand ever at the Charles L. Sewall Center Thursday 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 29.4 percent (144-for-489) from beyond the arc, which is tops in the Northeast Conference and ranks fourth in the country behind Morgan State (28.1 percent), South Carolina (28.5 percent) and New Mexico State (29.2 percent). League foes have shot just 28.7 percent (81-for-282) from deep against the Colonials this season. Overall, RMU has held 17 of its 29 opponents to under 30 percent shooting from deep.  
 
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 29 games, the Robert Morris underclassmen have supplied the Colonials with 55.1 percent (3,212-of-5,825) of the minutes played and 59.9 percent (1,098-of-1,834) of their scoring.
 
Did You Know? In seven seasons under head coach Andrew Toole, Robert Morris has compiled a record of 76-32 (.704) when scoring at least 70 points in a game. Included in that record is a mark of 28-4 (.875) when eclipsing the 80-point plateau. RMU is 5-6 (.455) this season when eclipsing 70 points, including 4-4 (.500) in Northeast Conference games.
 
Steal City - Robert Morris has consistently been at the top of the Northeast Conference leaderboard in steals throughout head coach Andrew Toole's tenure, as the Colonials have topped the circuit four times (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016) under Toole and six times in the last nine years. Through 29 games this season, Robert Morris has compiled 226 steals, an average of 7.79 per game that leads the NEC. Senior guard Kavon Stewart ranks second in the circuit individually with an average of 1.71 per contest.
 
Defense Wins Championships - At the heart of the resurgence of the Robert Morris basketball program since 2007-08 is defense. Thanks to a 74-64 win @ Central Connecticut (2/18/17), the Colonials improved to 156-44 (.780) over the last 10 seasons when holding their opponent to under 70 points. Under Andrew Toole, RMU owns a mark of 103-36 (.757) when turning the trick. Overall in the last nine years, the Colonials have held their opponent to under 70 points 58.8 percent (200-of-340) of the time.

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