After the women’s team faced UIC in its season opener Thursday afternoon, the Robert Morris men’s basketball team traveled to Chicago for a matchup with the Flames at Credit Union 1 Arena on Friday night.
Last season, Robert Morris also faced their former Horizon League rival, and took care of business at UPMC Events Center by a score of 88-74.
This season, however, was a different story, as UIC rode a flaming hot second half to a 79-56 victory over the Colonials, making Robert Morris winless as a group against the Flames in 2026-27.
RMU faced its first disadvantage of the night before the game even started. Head coach Andy Toole changed up his starting lineup, inserting Ta’Zir Smith and Eddie Cooke III for Jalik Dunkley and Darius Livingston. What fans didn’t know was that Dunkley would not appear in the game at all.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair between the two sides, but things were looking good for the Colonials, as RMU held a narrow lead at halftime.
But as previously mentioned, the second half of the game did not go according to plan for Robert Morris. UIC came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, scoring the half’s first 10 points and bringing a 17-4 run into the Colonials’ first timeout of the night.
The Flames could not be put out, as UIC kept the good vibes rolling in Chicago. What started out as a big run turned into a dominant second half for the Flames, who out-scored Robert Morris 49-24 in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Just like the first game of the season, an 86-49 loss to the Nevada Wolf Pack, the leading scorer for Robert Morris was KJ Garris Jr.
The Cal State Fullerton transfer tallied 16 points on Monday night, and followed that up with an 11-point performance Friday evening.
Garris Jr. recorded double-digit points on 11 different occasions, including 13 or more points in three straight contests as a freshman for the Titans last season.
Behind him, Darius Livingston notched nine points off the bench, and three different Colonials (Ace Valentine, Eddie Cooke III, and KC Ugwuakazi) scored eight.
Despite shooting better from the field in the second half at 42.11%, Robert Morris could not improve as a team from the free-throw or three-point lines across the final 20 minutes of play, dropping off by 5% and nearly 12% in those metrics respectively.
Meanwhile, UIC shot tremendously better as a team in the second half than the first half. The Flames specifically improved from beyond the arc, going two-for-eight in the first half but seven-for-thirteen in the second.
Robert Morris was also out-rebounded by the Flames 31-to-27 and committed more turnovers than UIC (20-to-12).
Up Next
The Colonials head to Fayetteville for the final game of their road trip, as Robert Morris faces off against Moon Township native John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks, with tip off set for 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
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