Playing against a Power Five opponent early in the season is nothing new for Andy Toole and the Robert Morris Colonials. RMU opened the year in Cincinnati against Xavier and has played at Kentucky, Ohio State, and other high-profile opponents in recent years.
Friday was one of the team’s best chances to knock off a Big Ten opponent in quite some time. RMU’s 1-14 against Big Ten teams in program history, only defeating Penn State at Rec Hall on Feb. 25, 1981.
The Colonials faced Wisconsin in Madison Friday, looking to get back to .500 at 2-2 overall. In a closely contested game that came down to the wire, Wisconsin was too much for RMU to handle in the final 10 minutes of the second half in a 78-68 victory.
RMU played well nearly the entire game and trailed by two, 37-35, at halftime. Robert Morris converted seven triples in the first 20 minutes and took Wisconsin more than 22 minutes to convert a three. Wisconsin missed all six of its tries in the first and shot 48% from the floor through one half of play. The Badgers ended the night shooting over 53%.
Wisconsin outscored RMU 41-33 in the second half thanks to 11 of 18 converted shots, a 61% clip, from the field. RMU never led in the game.
Stephaun Walker only played nine due to early foul trouble that plagued the star forward all game. He closed the evening with five points and one rebound before fouling out in the final minutes. Jackson Last totaled a team-high 16 points in 32 minutes, while TJ Wainwright (15), Justice Williams (11), and Alfredo Bogilo (10) also scored in double digits.
Wainwright and Bogilo joined Walker on the bench to close the game, as fouling issues were a significant problem for Robert Morris. Tyler Wahl and Josh Blackwell both paced Wisconsin with 18 points each.
The Colonials return to the UPMC Events Center to host the first-ever Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic beginning Nov. 24 against Jacksonville and one of last season’s stars of the NCAA Tournament in FDU.
