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Top Story - The Robert Morris University men’s basketball team, winners of a season-high five straight games and seven of its last eight contests, opens a two-game road trip Thursday night when it travels to Fairfield, Conn., for a key Northeast Conference tussle with Sacred Heart. The Colonials are coming off a 70-66 victory over Long Island (1/14/06) and are off to their first 5-0 start in league play since 1990-91. A victory over the Pioneers Thursday would match RMU’s best start in NEC play in school history, as the 1982-83 Colonials started 6-0 in conference action. Robert Morris is also off to its best overall start to a season since the 1989-90 club started 10-4, and it closes out its two-game road swing with a rematch @ Wagner Saturday, Jan. 21, on Staten Island, N.Y. After RMU’s road trip, the team closes out the month of January with a three-game homestand, starting Tuesday, Jan. 24, with a 7:30 p.m. tilt against St. Francis (Pa.) that will be televised live on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh.

Quick Stat of the Night - If there has been one Colonial who has enjoyed road trips to New England, it has been junior guard Derek Coleman. In six career games in the state of Connecticut against NEC foes Central Conn. State, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart, the Boston, Mass., native has averaged 11.8 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor (20-for-35), including 63 percent (15-for-24) from beyond the arc. Coleman will look to those familiar surroundings Thursday night against the Pioneers to find his stroke, as he has shot just 26 percent (7-for-27) from the field in his last three games.

Thursday’s Opponent and the All-Time Series - RMU and Sacred Heart will square off for the 12th time Thursday night, with the Colonials owning an 8-3 lead in the all-time series. Robert Morris has won each of the last four meetings, including a season series sweep in both 2003-04 and 2004-05. However, the average margin of victory for RMU during its streak is just 5.0 points. In last year’s series, the Colonials garnered a 70-67 win in Fairfield, Conn. (2/17/05), before posting a 77-74 victory at home (2/26/05).

PROBABLE STARTERS

Robert Morris (9-5 / 5-0 NEC)

Sacred Heart (7-8 / 4-2 NEC)

Head Coach Mark Schmidt (fifth season; Boston College '85) - The 2005-06 campaign marks Mark Schmidt’s fifth year as head coach of the men’s basketball program at Robert Morris University. He owns an overall record of 59-70 (.457), including a 44-35 (.557) 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 both 2003-04 and 2004-05. In 2004-05, Schmidt guided the Colonials to a third-place finish in the NEC, the program’s best standing since 2000. During the 2003-04 campaign, 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, 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 (Minnesota Timberwolves) 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 Pioneers - Sacred Heart squares off with Robert Morris Thursday night with an overall record of 7-8, including 4-2 in Northeast Conference play. The Pioneers have won four straight at the William H. Pitt Center, with their last home loss to Columbia (11/30/05), 61-59. Senior center Kibwe Trim is the NEC’s leading scorer at 18.5 points per game and also grabs a team-high 8.0 rebounds a contest, while junior guard Jarrid Frye scores at a 16.2 points per game clip. Junior guard Tavio Hobson runs the Pioneer offense, as he owns a team-high 63 assists and 31 steals.

Sacred Heart Head Coach - In his 28th season as head coach of the Pioneers is Dave Bike (Sacred Heart ’69), who owns an overall record of 423-378 (.528). During the 1985-86 season, Bike led the Pioneers to the NCAA Division II national title with a 93-87 win over Southeast Missouri State in the championship game at the Springfield Civic Center. That year’s Sacred Heart team finished with a record of 30-4.

RMU’s Last Game - Robert Morris notched its fifth straight victory Jan. 14 with a 70-66 win over Long Island. The Blackbirds jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes of action as Esa Maki-Tulokas scored five points and Randy Jones hit a jumper, but RMU closed the gap to 9-7 after a three-pointer from Cori Boston. Jones came back to hit a trifecta to give the Blackbirds a 12-7 advantage with 13:58 to go in the first half, but RMU posted a 15-5 spurt to open up a 22-14 lead. A.J. Jackson was the key offensive force for the Colonials during the run, scoring 10 points. Robert Morris hung onto its lead the rest of the first half, eventually pushing its advantage 29-17 after a pair of free throws from Jackson, but Long Island scored the last five points of the stanza to close within seven at the break, 29-22. The Blackbirds slowly chipped away at the RMU lead in the second half, closing to within one, 38-37, thanks to a 15-9 run in the first nine minutes of the stanza. Aubin Scott’s three-pointer with 8:32 to go knotted the score at 42, but Robert Morris used a 9-0 run to take a 51-42 lead at the 6:14 mark of the second half. Colson Sénat scored four points during the run for the Colonials. Long Island closed its deficit to 51-46 after a fastbreak layup by Scott, but the Colonials got their lead back to double digits, 58-46, after a pair of free throws by Derek Coleman after a technical on the Blackbird bench and a three-pointer by Steve Lancaster. RMU held a double-digit lead, 62-51, with 1:35 to play, but Long Island got back in the game thanks to James Williams, who scored 11 points in the final 2:10 to help the Blackbirds close to within three, 67-64, with 10 seconds to play. However, Williams fouled out with seven seconds to play, sending Jonathan Clark to the free-throw line, who hit the front end of a one-on-one opportunity to give Robert Morris a 68-64 lead. Maki-Tulokas would score a layup with two seconds left to pull LIU within two, 68-66, but Jeremy Chappell hit a pair from the charity stripe with less than a second to play to help RMU seal the victory.

Leading Scorers: Jackson (25), Chappell (10), Coleman (9), Lee (9)
Leading Rebounders: Jackson (14), Lee (8), Boston (4), Coleman (4), Chappell (4)
Assists: Coleman (3), Chappell (3), Lee (2), Jackson (1)

Settling In -  While forward A.J. Jackson has been a pleasant surprise for Robert Morris in 2005-06, the junior transfer from East Tennessee State may finally be settling into a consistent groove for the Colonials after basically two years off from competitive basketball. While leading the team in both scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (10.5 rpg) so far this season, Jackson has found his groove against league foes. In five NEC contests so far, Jackson is averaging 22.2 points and 10.2 rebounds but more importantly has found his shooting touch, as he’s converted 55.7 percent (34-for-61) of his shots from the floor. In his last five games since converting just 1-of-10 field goals @ Iowa (12/22/05), Jackson is shooting 57.1 percent (36-for-63) from the floor. Jackson enters this week’s games as the reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Week with Landy Thompson of Mount St. Mary’s.

Boston's Turner's Ice Tea Party - Sophomore forward Cori Boston is one of a trio of Colonials from Charlestown High School, joining junior guard Derek Coleman and sophomore guard Tony Lee. After struggling through an injury-plagued freshman campaign and serving as the understudy to former All-NEC conference selection Chaz McCrommon, Boston has become a key part to RMU’s 2005-06 resurgence. After contributing 16 points and personal bests in rebounds (7) and assists (3) in an 87-75 win @ Monmouth (1/5/06), Boston established a career-high with 19 points while adding six rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 73-71 win over St. Francis (N.Y.) (1/12/06). Boston has given RMU consistency, as he is averaging 12.3 points per game in his last seven contests while shooting 47.8 percent (31-for-65) from the field.

Surf Board - A key reason Robert Morris has been able to get off its best start since the 1989-90 campaign has been due to the club’s ability to crash the boards. While junior forward A.J. Jackson has been the main force on the glass for the Colonials, the team is also getting solid performances from sophomore guard Tony Lee and freshman guard Jeremy Chappell. Through 14 games, RMU is averaging 37.5 rebounds a contest, which leads the Northeast Conference. In Mark Schmidt’s four previous season as head coach, its best rebounding average came in 2001-02 with an average of 34.1 caroms a contest. Robert Morris is a perfect 6-0 in 2005-06 and 16-4 overall under Schmidt campaign when grabbing 40+ rebounds in a game.

Freebies - An area of strength for Robert Morris under the direction of head coach Mark Schmidt has been the ability of the team to concentrate at the free-throw line. Robert Morris has finished in the top five in the Northeast Conference in free-throw percentage each of the previous four years with Schmidt at helm, including a league-best 75.4 percent (384-for-576) in 2003-04 that ranks as the second best mark in school history. The Colonials have kept that trend intact in 2005-06, as Robert Morris enters Thursday’s game @ Sacred Heart leading the NEC in free-throw percentage at 73.9 percent (244-for-330). In the last four games, Robert Morris has shot 80.5 percent (91-for-113) from the free-throw line and overall under Schmidt has converted 72.1 percent of its shots from the charity stripe (1,777-for-2,463).

Winning the Close Ones - Despite double-digit leads in the last five minutes against St. Francis (N.Y.) (1/12/06) and Long Island (1/14/06) in its recently completed homestand, the Colonials had to hang on in the final minutes and did so thanks to solid free-throw shooting. Robert Morris garnered the two victories thanks to shooting 77.8 percent (14-for-18) in the last five minutes of wins over the Terriers and Blackbirds. So far this season, the best free-throw shooter for Robert Morris in the last five minutes of games has been sophomore guard Tony Lee, who has converted 20 of his 24 opportunities, a success rate of 83.3 percent. RMU’s ability to hit free throws late in the game has helped the club go 4-0 so far this season in games decided by five points or less.

Double Your Pleasure - Thanks to game-highs in both points (25) and rebounds (14) in a 70-66 victory over Long Island, junior forward A.J. Jackson notched his league-best eighth double-double of the season. It marks the most double-doubles by a Robert Morris player since former Colonial Steve Pettyjohn (1998-2000) also notched eight during the 1999-2000 campaign. The most known double-doubles in a season in school history is 10 by Anthony Dickens (1985-90) during his senior year in 1989-90.

Breaking the Ice - Junior guard Derek Coleman has slowly begun his ascent up the Robert Morris career record book and in the past week has put his name in two distinct categories. With 212 career assists, Coleman became just the 15th Colonial in school history to eclipse 200 career dimes, and his total currently ranks 13th all-time. Thanks to a trio of three-pointers in the club’s 87-75 victory @ Monmouth (1/5/06), Coleman pushed his career trifecta total over 100, becoming just the eighth Colonial in school history with 100 career three-pointers. He currently ranks eighth all-time with 103 career trifectas.

Martial Arts - To illustrate the importance of sophomore guard Tony Lee’s presence on defense, one can point to the club’s single-game steal totals. Since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, Lee’s first year with the club, RMU has finished with at least 10 steals in a game 11 times, including eight with Lee as a member of the starting lineup. Over the course of Mark Schmidt’s first three seasons as head coach, the Colonials finished with at least 10 steals in a game a total of six times.

Defense Wins Championships - Head coach Mark Schmidt has preached over the course of his five years as head coach that a suffocating defense will lead to victories, and his mantra has been proven correct. Under Schmidt, Robert Morris boasts a record of 45-15 (.750) when holding opponents under 70 points a contest, including 4-0 so far on the 2005-06 season. While that mantra is true, the Colonials have used a run-and-gun style of offense in 2005-06, and after going 4-28 in Schmidt’s first four years as head coach when allowing 80 or more points, RMU is 3-2 so far in 2005-06.

Weekly Honors - Junior guard Derek Coleman (NEC Choice Hotels Player of the Week - 12/19/05) ... Freshman guard Jeremy Chappell (NEC Choice Hotels Rookie of the Week - 12/19/05) ... Freshman guard Jeremy Chappell (NEC Choice Hotels Rookie of the Week - 12/12/05) ... Freshman guard Jeremy Chappell (NEC Choice Hotels Rookie of the Week - 1/2/06) ... Sophomore guard Tony Lee (NEC Choice Hotels Player of the Week - 1/9/06) ... Junior forward A.J. Jackson (NEC Choice Hotels Co-Player of the Week - 1/16/06)