GAME 31
Robert Morris (15-15 / 9-8 NEC) @ Saint Francis (17-11 / 11-6 NEC)
Saturday, February 24, 2018 • 7:00 p.m.
DeGol Arena (3,500) • Loretto, Pa.

Radio: ESPN 970 AM & 106.3 FM
Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Elias (color)
Video: SFUAthletics.com • NECFrontRow.com 
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team concludes its 2017-18 regular season Saturday looking to snap a two-game slide with a 7:00 p.m. tip in Loretto, Pa., against Saint Francis U at DeGol Arena.
 
- RMU opened its final road trip of the regular season with a 72-53 loss @ Mount St. Mary's (2/22/18). Sophomore guard Dachon Burke paced the Colonials with 16 points, a career-high six assists and two steals. Junior guard Matty McConnell added 14 points and five rebounds.
 
- The loss to the Mount assured Robert Morris it will have a road game in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Northeast Conference Tournament. The Colonials sit in a tie for fifth place in the league standings with LIU Brooklyn but own the tiebreaker over the Blackbirds after sweeping the 2017-18 season series.
 
- RMU enters Saturday's game against the Red Flash leading the Northeast Conference in three-point field goal percent defense (.321) and steals (7.65 per game) while ranking second in the circuit in scoring defense (70.8 ppg) and offensive rebounds (12.33 per contest).
 
- Against Northeast Conference opposition, the Colonials enter Saturday's finale leading the league in three-point field goal percent defense (.323) and steals (7.81 per game). Robert Morris has paced the NEC in league games in steals in eight of the last 10 years, including each of the last two seasons.
 
- Sophomore guard Dachon Burke (2.10 per game) and junior guard Matty McConnell (1.83) rank first and second, respectively, in the Northeast Conference in steals.
 
- Sophomore guard Dachon Burke has scored at least 25 points on six occasions this season and has also scored in double figures in 27 of his 29 contests. He is the 17th player in school history with at least 25 double-figure scoring games in a season, including the seventh under head coach Andrew Toole.
 
- The Colonials concluded the home portion of their 2017-18 slate with a 65-58 loss to Central Connecticut (2/17/18) at the A.J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University. Sophomore guard Dachon Burke was the only player to reach double figures, finishing with a game-high 24 points while adding four assists and three steals.
 
- RMU opened its two-game homestand with an 83-60 victory over Bryant (2/15/18) at the Palumbo Center. Sophomore guard Dachon Burke led four players in double figures for the Colonials with 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He also added five boards, three assists and two steals.

- The win over Bryant helped Robert Morris clinch a berth in the 2018 Northeast Conference Tournament. The Colonials have qualified for the NEC Tournament 15 consecutive years, the longest active streak in the league.

LINKS:
- Game Notes (PDF)
- Game Notes (ISSUU)
- Audio
- Video
- Live Stats
 
Mount St. Mary's Tidbits - Robert Morris has dropped seven consecutive games to the Mount and have slipped to 32-34 (.484) in the all-time series ... Mount St. Mary's is the only program in the Northeast Conference the Colonials have a losing record against in the all-time series ... The Mount shot 50.9 percent (27-for-53) from the field despite the NEC's leading scorer, Junior Robinson, opening the game 0-for-9 shooting and finishing the game 4-for-14 ... Redshirt freshman forward David Cole established a career high with six rebounds and also posted a block ... RMU suffered 19 turnovers, its highest mark in a league game since also suffering 19 against Mount St. Mary's (2/1/18) at PPG Paints Arena ... The Colonials held a 10-8 edge in offensive rebounds.  
 
Fantastic February - Dachon Burke is in the groove offensively for Robert Morris, as the sophomore guard enters Saturday's regular-season finale @ Saint Francis U having reached double figures in each of RMU's seven games this month. During the month of February, Burke is supplying RMU with averages of 21.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 56.2 percent (59-for-105) from the field, including 41.3 percent (12-for-29) from deep. He paced the Colonials @ Mount St. Mary's (2/22/18) with 16 points and also dished out a career-high six assists while registering a pair of steals.
 
Two Pair - As Robert Morris concludes its 2017-18 regular season Saturday, a pair of Colonials have a chance to make history @ Saint Francis U. Koby Thomas and Jon Williams, both rookies, are the only players to have started each of RMU's 30 games in 2017-18. Should they both be a member of the starting lineup against the Red Flash, the duo will establish a new school record for starts by a freshman. Thomas and Williams are currently tied with former guard Velton Jones (2008-13), who earned 30 starts in 2009-10. The overall school record for starts in a season is 37, established by former guard Coron Williams (2009-13) during the 2011-12 campaign.
 
Only The Young - As Robert Morris continues its Northeast Conference slate, rookies have played a key part for the Colonials in 2017-18. Freshman have supplied 52 percent (1,086-of-2,088) of RMU's scoring output. Overall, newcomers have scored 60.6 percent (1,266-of-2,088) of the points for Robert Morris this season.
 
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