Bryant battles with Robert Morris Thursday in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH – The Bryant University men's basketball team travels to Pittsburgh for a Thursday night game against Robert Morris, to be played at Duquesne University's A.J. Palumbo Center.
THE PARTICULARS
Opponent: Robert Morris
Game Time: Thursday, Feb. 15 – 7 p.m.
Watch Live: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
Game Notes: Bryant
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris is 14-13 and 8-6 in the NEC after Saturday's 96-82 win at LIU Brooklyn. The victory snapped a four-game slide for the Colonials, who are in a four-way tie for third in the conference standings.
Dachon Burke ranks fifth in the NEC at 17.3 points per game, while Koby Thomas is sixth in the conference at 6.8 rebounds per game. Burke leads the conference with 2.1 steals per game.
THE SERIES
Robert Morris holds a 13-4 advantage in the Division I series, but three of the four Bryant wins have come in western Pennsylvania. Thursday's meeting will be the first played in a venue other than the Chace Athletic Center or Robert Morris' former home court, the Sewall Center.
The Colonials captured a 68-54 victory in both teams' NEC opener this season (12/29). Sophomore Sabastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) recorded 14 points and six rebounds in the defeat.
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 79, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 77
Bryant opened up an 18-point lead and withstood a Mount St. Mary's rally for a 79-77 victory Saturday in Smithfield. Four Bulldogs were in double figures, led by 23 points from redshirt-freshman Brandon Carroll (Brewster, N.Y.).
LIGHTS, CAMERA, CARROLL
Redshirt-freshman Brandon Carroll had the best performance of his Bulldog career in a nationally televised game at Wagner (2/8), recording career-highs in points (25) and rebounds (12) for his first-career double-double. Carroll followed that performance with 23 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's win over Mount St. Mary's to earn NEC Rookie of the Week honors.
SHOOTERS SHOOT
Sophomore Tanner Johnson (Lexington, Ky.) has recorded 120 field-goal attempts this season with 108 of them coming from beyond the arc. Johnson has five games in double figures in scoring this year, including a career-high 19 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (1/27).
Johnson has scored 13 points or more in four of his five starts and is averaging 11.8 points per game while in the starting five.
SOME GENERAL STATS ON GRANT
Sophomore Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) has averaged 16.9 points per game on the year with 10 20-point games, including seven of his last 12. The sophomore guard averaged 23.0 points per game in the month of January.
Grant hit nine three-pointers at Mount St. Mary's (1/4), tying his own Division I program record set last year against Sacred Heart. The 29-point performance came 10 years to the week after the first game of nine three-pointers by a Bulldog, as Peter Lambert drained nine threes against Merrimack Jan. 2, 2008, in Bryant's final Division II season.
WE LIKE IKE
Sophomore Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.) has raised his scoring average from 6.0 points per game as a freshman to 13.9 as a sophomore.
Ndugba has two double-doubles on the year: a 16-point, 10-rebound outing at Hartford (11/24) and a 17-point, 11-assist performance at Memphis (12/9).
Ndugba passed Alex Francis for fourth in Bryant's Division I era in assists in the game at Albany (12/6) and now has 257 in his career.
KOSTUR NAMED TO 3X3U WATCH LIST
Senior Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) was named to the Early Season Watch List for the inaugural Intersport 3X3U National Championship to be held in San Antonio during Final Four weekend. The tournament will feature a team of graduating seniors from each of the 32 Division I conferences in a three-day event March 30-April 1.
BULLDOGS LEAD NATION IN LINEUP COMBINATIONS
Bryant has used 17 different starting lineup combinations this season, which is the most nationally entering the week. The Bulldogs have started 12 different players this season, with only Ikenna Ndugba (26) and Adam Grant (23) starting in at least two-thirds of Bryant's 27 games.
NEXT UP: SAINT FRANCIS U
Bryant closes out its weekend getaway to western Pennsylvania with a game Saturday against Saint Francis U. The 1 p.m. tip in Loretto can be seen on NEC Front Row.
Tickets for the 2017-18 Bryant University men's basketball season are available by clicking HERE or calling (401) 319-TIXX.
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