Top Storyline - The Robert Morris University men’s basketball team closes out a two-game homestand Saturday night by hosting Quinnipiac at the Charles L. Sewall Center for the 2004-05 Northeast Conference lidlifter for both clubs. The Colonials are coming off a 107-47 victory over Division III Thiel (11/29/04), the largest margin of victory in school history, to snap a three-game losing and will look to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. RMU returns to the road after Saturday’s game with the Bobcats, traveling to Lewisburg, Pa., for a 7:30 p.m. non-conference tilt with Bucknell Tuesday, Dec. 7. RMU returns home to the Sewall Center Saturday, Dec. 11, for a 7:30 p.m. against Eastern Kentucky.

Quick Stat of the Night - Since the ECAC Metro Conference became the Northeast Conference prior to the 1988-89 campaign, the Colonials are 11-5 all-time in league home openers and enter Saturday’s game with Quinnipiac riding an eight-game winning streak. RMU hasn’t dropped an NEC home opener since an 80-76 loss to Wagner (1/13/96). Over that same span, the Colonials are 9-7 in NEC lidlifters, home or away. In last year’s opener, forward Chaz McCrommon finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Colonials to a 65-62 victory over in-state rival St. Francis (Pa.) (12/13/03).

Saturday’s Opponent and the All-Time Series - Saturday’s meeting between Robert Morris and Quinnipiac marks the 12th in the all-time series, with the Colonials holding a 6-5 advantage. RMU swept the season series from the Bobcats in 2003-04, garnering an 88-82 win (2/12/04) in Hamden, Conn., before posting an 82-80 win (2/26/04) at the Sewall Center. In all, eight of the 11 games have been decided by 10 points or less, including five games by five points or less. Senior foward Chaz McCrommon has had the most success against Quinnpiac, averaging 16.8 points in five career games against the Bobcats.

Probable Colonial Starters (2004-05 ppg, rpg averages)

Probable Bobcat Starters (2004-05 ppg, rpg averages)

Head Coach Mark Schmidt (Fourth Season - Boston College ’85) - The 2004-05 campaign marks Mark Schmidt’s fourth year as head coach of the men’s basketball program at Robert Morris University. He owns an overall record of 38-53 (.418), including a 28-28 mark in the Northeast Conference, and was named to his current post May 7, 2001. Schmidt guided the Colonials to an overall record of 14-15 in 2003-04, including a 10-8 mark in the NEC. RMU tied for fourth in the league and advanced to the NEC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2000. In 2001-02, Schmidt led Robert Morris to a 12-18 overall record in his first year on the sidelines, the most victories for a first-year head coach in the 29-year history of the RMU men’s basketball program.

Prior to RMU, Schmidt spent seven seasons as one of the nation’s top assistants at Xavier University under current Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser from 1994-2001. While with the Musketeers, Schmidt played a dual role, serving as both a coach and the program’s top recruiter. His coaching responsibilities centered mostly around the post players, and he helped develop and recruit players at Xavier that have moved on to the professional ranks, including James Posey (Memphis Grizzlies), David West (New Orleans Hornets), Romain Sato (San Antonio Spurs), Lionel Chalmers (Los Angeles Clippers) and David Young (Seattle Supersonics). Prior to his stint with Xavier, Schmidt served one year as an assistant at Loyola College in Baltimore, Md., also under Prosser. He also spent two seasons at Penn State University under Bruce Parkhill from 1991-93, and started his coaching career as an assistant at St. Michael’s College in Vermont from 1989-91.

Schmidt’s playing career was highlighted by four years as a guard/forward at Boston College, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and management with a concentration in marketing in 1985. The Eagles went 22-10 and made the NCAA Elite Eight during his freshman season in 1981-82 under head coach Tom Davis and 25-7 the next year in making the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in his first of three years playing for current Maryland coach Gary Williams. Boston College reached the NIT second round in 1984 and the NCAA Sweet Sixteen again in 1985.

Scouting the Bobcats - Quinnipiac enters Saturday night’s game with an overall record of 3-2 and are coming off an 83-76 victory over Cornell (12/1/04) at Burt Kahn Court. Saturday’s game against the Colonials opens a four-game road trip for the Bobcats. Senior guard Rob Monroe is the leading scorer in the early going for Quinnipiac, averaging 17.0 points per game while dishing out 7.6 assists per contest. Monroe is one of three Bobcats scoring in double figures, as junior guard Craig Benson is averaging 16.8 points per game and senior center C.J. Vick scores at a 10.4 points per game clip. Junior forward Kevin Jolley is the team’s leading rebounder at 6.6 per game.The Bobcats are averaging 75.4 points in their first five games this season, tops in the Northeast Conference, and also rank first in the circuit in three-point field goals made per game with 7.8. Benson owns 15 three-pointers, while Monroe has hit 13.

Quinnipiac Head Coach - Joe DeSantis (Fairfield ’79) is in his ninth season as head coach of the Bobcats and owns an overall record of 85-142. Prior to Quinnipiac, DeSantis had assistant coaching stops at St. John’s, Pittsburgh, Duquesne and Fairfield. He was named the 1999-2000 NEC Coach of the Year by CBSsportsline.com after guiding the Bobcats to an overall record of 18-10.

RMU’s Last Game - Robert Morris ran its record to 25-4 all-time in home openers Nov. 29 with a 107-47 victory over Division III Thiel. The 60-point win is the largest margin of victory by RMU in its 29-year Division I history, eclipsing a 96-41 defeat of Carnegie Mellon Nov. 30, 1999. Thiel jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first four minutes of action as Daryl Moore hit a jumper for the Tomcats, Percy Sweeting added a layup and Joe Herrmann hit a three-pointer. Robert Morris responded with a 43-12 run over the rest of the first half to take a 46-19 lead into halftime. The Colonials used the press to force Thiel into 20 first-half turnovers, helping Robert Morris take the big advantage. In the first half senior forward Chaz McCrommon scored 14 points and senior guard Maurice Carter added 12, while freshman guard Tony Lee came off the bench to score nine points and grab seven rebounds for the Colonials. The Tomcats scored the first six points of the second half to cut the RMU lead to 46-25, but the Colonials would use a 35-7 spurt to up their lead to 81-32 with 9:37 to play. Robert Morris would hold its largest lead of the game, 105-41, with 1:52 to play after a dunk by senior guard Christopher Gooden. McCrommon and Carter paced the Colonials with 21 points each, while McCrommon finished with nine rebounds and Carter nine assists. Lee recorded the first double-double of his career with 16 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for RMU, while freshman forward Beau Gibb added 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists in his first career start. Gooden added 13 points off the bench for Colonials and added two assists and two steals. Robert Morris set a Sewall Center record with 21 steals in the victory over Thiel.

Complete Package - Senior forward Chaz McCrommon, a 2004-05 All-Northeast Conference Preseason Team selection, is off to a complete start in his senior season. McCrommon averaged 17.0 points per game as a junior in 2003-04, helping him earn All-NEC First Team accolades. Despite a scoring drop in the early going of the 2004-05 campaign to 12.8 points per contest, McCrommon has picked up other aspects of his game. He currently leads the Colonials in rebounding (6.8 per game), including 15 offensive caroms. McCrommon also owns a team-high eight steals and ranks second on RMU in assists with 18, an average of 3.6 per game.

In A Zone - Senior guard Maurice Carter had the most drastic difference in games to start the 2004-05 season, leading RMU with 22 points in a 68-49 win over Morgan State (11/15/04) in the Guardians Classic before going 0-for-8 from the field and being held scoreless for the first time since his freshman season @ Ohio State (11/16/04) in the championship game of the tournament. The 0-for-8 performance against the Buckeyes, however, seems to have settled Carter, as in the past three games he is averaging 15.7 points per game and more importantly is shooting 68 percent (17-for-29) from the field. Included in that is a shooting percentage of 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from beyond the three-point arc. Entering this season, Carter was a career 39.8 percent from the floor, including a shooting percentage of 34.3 from beyond the three-point arc.

Steal City - Robert Morris set a new Charles L. Sewall Center record with 21 steals in its 107-47 victory over Thiel (11/29/04), as senior forward Chaz McCrommon led the Colonials with five. The old record of 19 had been set in a 55-41 win over Marietta (12/8/86). Along with McCrommon, senior guard Maurice Carter and freshman forward Beau Gibb each tallied four steals, while freshman guard Tony Lee added three and freshman forward Cori Boston and senior guard Christopher Gooden a pair each.

Other Records to Fall - Robert Morris tied the Charles L. Sewall Center record for points in a half in its 107-47 win over Thiel (11/29/04) with 61 in the second stanza, tying the mark originally set against Long Island (2/8/90) in an 81-68 RMU victory. Robert Morris also broke the Sewall Center record for field goals (42) against the Tomcats, while Thiel’s 32 turnovers ties the Sewall Center mark originally established by Wagner (12/10/98) in a 94-67 Colonial victory.

Stepping In, Showing Up - Despite limited action in the first four games of the 2004-05 season, freshman forward Beau Gibb and freshman guard Tony Lee came through with big performances of RMU’s 107-47 victory over Thiel (11/29/04) in the club’s home opener. Gibb notched the first start of his career and posted a 16-point, seven-rebound performance to help the Colonials to the win. He finished 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc, and also added four steals, two assists and a block in the victory. Lee, meanwhile, registered the first double-double of his young career with 16 points and 13 rebounds in 25 minutes of work. Lee finished 5-of-10 from the field and grabbed eight offensive rebounds against the Tomcats while also finishing with three steals, an assist and a block. Gibb is averaging 7.2 points per game for Robert Morris through the first five games of the 2004-05 campaign, while Lee is averaging 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Freebies - One area the Colonials have excelled in under head coach Mark Schmidt in his four years at the helm of the Robert Morris men’s basketball program has been the free-throw line. In 2003-04, RMU led the Northeast Conference and ranked eighth in NCAA Division I in free-throw shooting with a success rate of 75.4 percent (384-for-509). That continued a trend in which the Colonials finished third in the NEC during both the 2002-03 (72.3) and 2001-02 (70.4) campaigns. However, Robert Morris is off to a slow start from the charity stripe in 2004-05, converting just 59.1 percent (55-for-93) of its shots from the free-throw line. In RMU’s 107-47 win over Thiel (11/29/04), the Colonials converted just 13 of its 31 attempts from the line.

Three Ball, Side Pocket - After a slow start from beyond the three-point arc this season, Robert Morris has picked up the pace in its last two games, combining to hit 20 of its last 41 attempts (48.8 percent) @ Pittsburgh (11/24/04) and in a 107-47 win over Thiel (11/29/04). Every Colonial on the active roster has hit at least one three-pointer for Robert Morris this season with the exception of junior forward Joseph Ison, and leading the way are senior guard Maurice Carter and freshman forward Beau Gibb, who own 12 and 10 trifectas, respectively.

The New Tag Team - Senior guard Maurice Carter, who ranks fourth all-time at Robert Morris with 182 career three-pointers, lost his favorite shooting partner from beyond the three-point arc when forward Aaron Thomas (2000-04) graduated in May of 2004. Carter and Thomas combined to hit 345 trifectas together over the course of their three years as teammates at Robert Morris, but Carter may have found another Colonial similar to Thomas this season in freshman forward Beau Gibb. Through the first five games of the 2004-05 campaign, Gibb has hit 10 three-pointers, second on the club to Carter’s 12. Gibb is shooting 65.0 percent (10-for-16) from beyond the three-point arc, which ranks second in the Northeast Conference to Joey Goodson of St. Francis (Pa.), who has hit four of his six three-point attempts (66.7 percent) so far this season. Carter, meanwhile, ranks fifth in the circuit at 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from beyond the arc, helping give Robert Morris a pair of players ranked in the top five in the NEC in three-point field goal shooting percentage. Last year, Thomas led the loop with a three-point field goal shooting percentage of 45.6 (78-for-171).

Elite Company - Senior forward Chaz McCrommon has a chance to join a select few in Northeast Conference history this season to post at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists on his career. Quinnipiac’s Kason Mims ended his career in 2004 with 1,335 points, 548 rebounds and 453 assists, just the fourth player in league history to accomplish the feat. Mims joined Central Connecticut State’s Dean Walker (1,196 points, 549 rebounds and 284 assists from 1997-01), Mount St. Mary’s Gregory Harris (1,760 points, 615 boards and 529 assists from 1996-2000) and Monmouth’s William Lewis (1,517 points, 514 rebounds and 271 assists from 1988-92). McCrommon enters Saturday’s game against Quinnipaic with career totals of 1,202 points, 444 rebounds and 183 assists. Over his last 25 regular season games, McCrommon needs to average 2.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists to become the fifth player in league history to turn the trick.