MORGANTOWN, W.Va.– A positive in every team’s opening game is a clean slate. No mistakes. Start fresh on a clean slate.

While that may be true for the Robert Morris men’s basketball team, they did not take advantage of their beginning to the 2024-25 season to West Virginia.

The Colonials fell to the Mountaineers 87-59.

“We’re from Pittsburgh and Coach [Mike] Tomlin says it all the time, ‘play to your standard.’ We certainly were not anywhere close to that.” head coach Andy Toole said

From the get-go, the Colonials started flat with three turnovers before the first media timeout. West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries and his son, Tucker had a dream start to their careers in Mountaineer colors.

WVU started the game on a 30-2 run, with Tucker DeVries scoring 12. The reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year ended the game with 18 points.

The Colonials also fumbled nine turnovers in the first seven minutes and had a total of 14 in the game.

The game would not get any closer as RMU was a hole just eight minutes in.

“I think guys got a little bit overwhelmed,” head coach Andy Toole said. “A couple of guys seemed a little bit overwhelmed doing some things that seem uncharacteristic. Coaches and players think they know it well enough and then they get into an environment like this and your emotions, your urgency and your intensity, different things starts flowing. One mistake can become two and two becomes four and then all of a sudden, it gets ugly.”

The Mountaineers hit 14 three-pointers in the blowout win, their most since last December, while Robert Morris shot 32.4% from the field and only six shots from beyond the arc.

Gannon transfer Josh Omojafo was the lone Colonial to score into double digits, scoring 13 points in his Division I debut on 3-for-9 shooting and sinking all seven of his free throws.

Coming into the season, Coach Toole said he wants him to be a key player this season and him to embrace the role.

“I thought he was pretty nervous to start,” Toole said. “I think I thought he settled down and became aggressive and got into the paint and got to the free throw line and that’s something that we know he can do. We were going to rely on him for a lot. So we need a better performance in the beginning of the game because we’re asking a lot of them. He wants that opportunity. He wants that role. We’ve got to make sure that everybody’s kind of raising their level of play from the start all the way through the game.”

Kam Woods scored 7 on 3-for-16 shooting and DJ Smith had 8 points in their first game in Colonial colors, while returner Alvaro Folgueris was held scoreless.

Antallah Sandlin-El was seen limping at the end of the first half but he reurned later in the game. Coach Toole said he was ‘a little sore.’

The Colonials will travel to Newark, Del. and face the Blue Hens of Delaware. Robert Morris lost 73-69 to them at home last December. The tip off is Thursday with a time to be determined