Robert Morris Uses Dominant First Half, Pair of Monster Performances to Defeat Canisius in Exhibition

It is officially college basketball season. Well, kind of. The official start to the season is right around the corner, but Robert Morris previewed its new-look squad on Tuesday as it hosted Canisius at the UPMC Events Center for an exhibition matchup.

Andy Toole’s team came out of the gates firing on all cylinders offensively and defensively as the Colonials built up a 20-point lead by the under-eight media timeout in the first half. While the second half was not as dominant as the first, the Colonials wrapped up their preseason with a convincing 87-74 victory over the Golden Griffins.

Performances

Two of the best players on the court in Tuesday’s exhibition were on the Robert Morris side, one in his second season under Andy Toole, and one newcomer.

Nicholls State transfer forward Jalik Dunkley showcased All-Horizon talent in the win and was easily the most impactful player on either side, despite a 30-point performance from Canisius’ Michael Wilson Jr.

Dunkley finished the game with a team-high 26 points and 10 rebounds (five on the offensive glass), three assists, three steals and a block. He shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the field and knocked down both of his three-point attempts whilst displaying freakish athleticism with a couple of rim-rocking dunks.

The other big-time performer on the Colonials’ side was returning guard Darius Livingston. As a freshman, Livingston excelled at shooting the three, and he did again on Tuesday, but he also showcased some newly acquired finishing skills in the win. Livingston was the team’s second-leading scorer as he tallied 21 points on an 8-for-14 shooting night which included five triples.

While Dunkley and Livingston carried most of the load, a handful of others contributed in the victory and flashed some of their skills that will be heavily relied on once the season opens up next week.

Ta’Zir Smith was one of the first off of the bench and will likely play the sixth-man role in his second season at Robert Morris as he finished with 13 points.

Cal Fullerton transfer KJ Garris added 12, most of which came in the second half, and from the free throw line. Garris played just 19 minutes despite starting due to some foul troubles but he sunk a couple of timely threes and went 6-for-7 from the line.

The most underrated performer from the exhibition was starting forward KC Ugwuakazi. The Merrimack transfer was a force one the glass despite being labeled as undersized. He finished with six rebounds, five coming on the offensive side.

Ugwuakzi, along with Dunkley and sophomore forward Sam Obenjo (five rebounds), will be crucial for the Colonials this season, and especially in the early portion as the team is without international forward Daniil Stolbetskiy for about a month.

Recap

It was only fitting for key returner Darius Livingston to start the game’s and Robert Morris’ scoring, and he did it in a fashion that he would not even think about last season, a floater near the rim. The Colonials jumped out to a 17-7 lead shortly after the first media stoppage thanks to a 6-0 run and then extended the lead to 20 points at 35-15 by the under-eight timeout.

Dunkley scored 11 of his 26 points in the opening 12 or so minutes and he teamed up with Livingston to combine for a 12-0 run that pushed the lead out to 20 during that time span.

The Colonials maintained around a 20-point lead throughout the remainder of the first half as they carried a 46-27 lead into halftime. Not only was the offense humming, the defense was causing all kinds of issues for the opposing ball handlers and the frontcourt was dominating.

In the first half alone, Robert Morris forced 16 turnovers and was out-rebounding Canisius, 20-13. That included an 11-1 advantage on the offensive glass.

After the early portion of the second half, which the Colonials used to increase their lead back to 23 points at 59-36, the Golden Griffins begun to finally make some adjustments.

The main change started with the Golden Griffins’ idea to switch to a zone defense. After figuring out a way to slow down the Colonials offense, the Golden Griffins used a 12-0 run to cut the deficit down to 11 points at 59-48.

Robert Morris finally snapped out of the slump when Livingston made back-to-back threes which was also the start to an 11-2 run that helped the Colonials re-extend the lead back to near 20.

Canisius made one more small run at it and cut the deficit to near 10 but a 7-0 personal run from Garris in the closing moments helped secure the 87-74 exhibition win for Robert Morris.

Up Next

The next game on the docket for Robert Morris is the season opener on November 2nd against Nevada on the road. Following the tough opener, the Colonials play at Illinois-Chicago on the 6th and at Arkansas on the 11th.

The Colonials will not play their first official home game until November 15th when they host Division-III Capitol. Then, the Colonials do not play at home again until the Horizon League opener against Youngstown State on December 5th.