GAME 28
UIC (10-15 / 6-10 #HLMBB) vs. RMU (7-20 / 5-13 #HLMBB)
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 • 7:00 p.m.
UPMC Events Center (4,000) • Moon Township, Pa.
 
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Elias (color)
Audio: RMU Athletics Gameday App
Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Elias (color)
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: RMUMBasketball
 
Opening Tip
 
- The RMU men's basketball team wraps up its 2021-22 regular season home schedule Saturday with a 7:00 p.m. tip against UIC at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials will conclude the year with a pair of games on the road.
 
- RMU opened its homestand with a 66-56 setback to IUPUI (2/17/22). Junior forward Matt Mayers paced the Colonials with 12 points and also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while senior forward Kahliel Spear contributed 11 points and six boards.
 
- Prior to its loss to the Jaguars, the Colonials picked up their second consecutive road victory, a 73-68 triumph @ Youngstown State (2/13/22). RMU used a 12-0 run to turn a 64-54 deficit into a 66-64 lead en route to the win.
 
- Senior forward Kahliel Spear led the way against the Penguins with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field, including 3-for-3 from deep, and a 4-for-5 performance at the free-throw line. He also added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks.
 
- Spear enters Thursday's game against the Jaguars leading the Horizon League in field goal percentage at 54.7 percent (156-for-285). In his two seasons in an RMU uniform after transferring from Bucknell, Spear has shot 54.7 percent (226-for-413) from the floor.
 
- Junior guard Michael Green III added 14 points and five assists in the victory @ Youngstown State, while junior forward Matt Mayers contributed 11 points and seven boards. Sophomore guard Kam Farris came off the bench to supply 10 points while also notching two assists and a block.
 
- As part of a stretch in which four of five are at home, the Colonials dropped a 71-68 decision to Oakland (2/11/22). RMU is 1-6 (.125) at home this season in games decided by six points or less after the setback to the Golden Grizzlies.
 
- Junior forward Brandon Stone tied a career high with 17 points to pace the Colonials against Oakland and also added eight rebounds, a steal and a block. Stone shot 7-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
 
- Senior forward Kahliel Spear notched his seventh double-double of the 2021-22 campaign with 14 points and 11 rebounds against the Golden Grizzlies while also dishing out a career-high five assists, and junior forward Matt Mayers chipped in 11 points and six caroms.
 
- In 13 games at the UPMC Events Center during the 2021-22 season, senior forward Kahliel Spear is leading RMU with averages of 16.1 points and 7.7 rebounds while knocking down 64.2 percent (86-for-134) of his shots from the field. He has also registered 19 blocks (1.46 per contest). As a team, the Colonials are holding opponents to an average of 68.9 points per game at home this season.

UIC LINKS
- Game Notes (PDF)
- Audio
- Video
- Live Stats
- RMU Athletics Gameday App
- Tickets
 
The All-Time Series (UIC) – RMU and UIC meet for the fifth time Saturday and marks the first visit for the Flames to the UPMC Events Center. Each of the previous four meetings have been won by UIC in Chicago, Ill., at Credit Union 1 Arena. In the opener of the 2021-22 season series, the Flames held off the Colonials, 80-75 Senior forward Kahliel Spear registered a double-double in the first meeting against the Flames with 23 points and 13 rebounds. He also added four assists, three steals and a block. Off the bench, junior guard Justin Winston, who has missed the last four games due to injury, scored a season-high 19 points.
 
IUPUI Notes – The first two meetings between the two programs have come during the 2021-22 season, with each team winning on the other's home court ... The Jaguars were unsuccessful on each of their six attempts from beyond the arc in the first half but were 7-for-8 (87.5%) after the break ... Overall IUPUI shot 50 percent (23-for-46) from the floor and 50 percent (7-for-14) from beyond the arc despite hitting just 13 of its 20 attempts (65%) at the free-throw line ... The Colonials knocked down 14 of their 18 attempts (77.8%) at the chalk ... Both IUPUI and RMU scored 28 points in the paint, while the Jaguars outscored the Colonials, 17-10, in points off turnovers ... RMU finished with eight assists against 15 miscues.
 
Double M – Matt Mayers has been a key companion to senior forward Kahliel Spear in the frontcourt for RMU, and the junior forward is playing some of his best basketball as the Colonials hit the stretch run of the 2021-22 season. Mayers has reached double figures in three consecutive games after pacing the Colonials with 12 points against IUPUI (2/17/22). Over his last three games, Mayers is averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 68.4 percent (13-for-19) from the floor and 88.9 percent (8-for-9) at the free-throw line. During the month of February, Mayers has produced averages of 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and has shot a team-high 65.4 percent (17-for-26) from the field.
 
Moving On Up – Thanks to a pair of blocks in a 73-68 win @ Youngstown State (2/13/22), senior forward Kahliel Spear became the seventh student-athlete in program history to eclipse 30 blocks in a season. Thanks to 31 on the 2021-22 campaign, Spear sits in a tie for seventh in the RMU single-season record book with former guard Forest Grant (1980-84), who rejected 31 shots during the 1981-82 season. Spear has compiled 54 blocks in 45 career games (1.20 per contest) with the Colonials and in 91 games at the NCAA Division I level owns 85 rejections.
 
February Fire – A consistent presence for RMU in 2022, senior forward Kahliel Spear has taken his game to the next level thus far in February. Through the first six games of the month, Spear is averaging 17.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest. Spear eclipsed 500 career points in an RMU uniform thanks to 15 points against Detroit Mercy (2/9/22) and has scored 563 points in 45 career games (12.5 ppg) in two seasons with the Colonials. An economics major who has maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.92, Spear became the first RMU student-athlete to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® District 2 Team since former forward Aaron Thomas (2000-04) in 2003 when he was named to the team Feb. 17, 2022.

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