Moon Township, Pa. – Participation in the 2018 National College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, five non-conference home games and a full slate of Northeast Conference (NEC) contests highlight the 2018-19
Robert Morris University men's basketball schedule.
The Colonials will open their 43rd season of NCAA Division I basketball Tuesday, Nov. 6, at USC. It marks the first of four games in the 2018 National College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, which includes road games against Missouri State (Nov. 9) and Stetson (Nov. 19) as well as a home game against Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 17).
RMU will open the home portion of its 2018-19 schedule Wednesday, Nov. 14, against Mount Aloysius. Home games for Robert Morris in 2018-19 will take place at the student recreation and fitness center at the North Athletic Complex until construction of Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center is completed in 2019.
"It's going to be exciting to have our games back on campus this year," said head coach
Andrew Toole. "We're looking forward to having our games at the North Athletic Complex bring us a true home-court atmosphere, which will only help us build excitement for when we get ready to move into Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center."
The 2018-19 schedule for Robert Morris also includes non-conference home games against Youngstown State (Nov. 28), Siena (Dec. 8) and Hood College (Dec. 29) as well as road contests against Purdue (Nov. 23), Drexel (Dec. 1), Canisius (Dec. 5), Rider (Dec. 15) and Louisville (Dec. 21).
RELATED: Robert Morris 2018-19 Schedule
The Colonials begin league play with a pair of home games, hosting Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019, before welcoming Mount St. Mary's Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019.
RMU hits the road for its next four league contests after opening weekend, including trips to Brooklyn, N.Y., and New England, before beginning a stretch in which the Colonials will host five of six NEC contests at home.
Led by Toole, Robert Morris returns four starters in 2018-19, including senior guard
Matty McConnell and sophomores
Charles Bain,
Koby Thomas and
Jon Williams.
McConnell is the active leader in games played (94), starts (85), points (784), assists (204) and steals (175) for the Colonials. He joined the top 10 for career steals last season and enters his final season of eligibility in 2018-19 ranked ninth all-time. Last season he averaged 10.8 points, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals per contest.
Thomas was named the 2018 NEC Rookie of the Year in a vote of league head coaches after providing averages of 12.0 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per contest. He became the fourth student-athlete in the last 12 years from the Colonials and fifth overall to garner the top rookie honor.
Williams, along with Thomas, established a freshman record for starts by a rookie, as the duo each started RMU's 33 games last season. Williams averaged 6.7 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 43.3 percent (58-for-134) from beyond the arc, which ranked fifth in the NEC.
Bain appeared in all 33 games for Robert Morris, including starts in seven of the last eight games, and averaged 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
The Colonials got their 2018-19 season off to an early start with the first foreign tour in program history in August. RMU visited Ireland and posted a 3-0 record during its exhibition tour, earning victories over
Neptune (August 9),
Moycullen (August 12) and
Killester (August 16). During the tour, Thomas led RMU with averages of 25.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Follow The Colonials: Twitter | Instagram
