Top-seeded Robert Morris entered the week with a bit of uncertainty as the start of the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Tournament loomed.
The Colonials (23-8), one of five teams with first-round byes, were looking ahead to the quarterfinals on Thursday night with an eye on the status of injured sophomore forward Alvaro Folgueiras, the league’s second-leading rebounder.
“He is progressing well,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said on Sunday, a day after the tournament bracket was released.
The Colonials open play at 8 p.m. Thursday at UPMC Events Center against the highest-seeded team remaining from Tuesday’s first-round games.
The 6-foot-9 Folgueiras, who is averaging 14.3 points and a team-leading 9.3 rebounds per game, was continuing to recover from a lower body injury sustained when he landed awkwardly on a fast-breaking shot-block attempt Thursday night in the second half of a regular season-ending 82-68 victory at IU Indianapolis.
It was the Colonials’ seventh straight victory and 13th in the past 14 games.
Afterward, Toole said Folgueiras was “pretty sore,” but he expressed relief that the injury didn’t appear to be season-ending.
“He just didn’t feel like he could explode off of it,” Toole said. “He could walk on it, but he didn’t feel like he could keep up with the pace of the game.”
In first-round games Thursday, No. 10 Detroit Mercy is at No. 7 Northern Kentucky and No. 11 Green Bay visits No. 6 Oakland at 7 p.m., and No. 9 IU Indy travels to No. 8 Wright State at 8 p.m.
The remaining top seeds with first-round byes are No. 2 Cleveland State, No. 3 Milwaukee, No. 4 Youngstown State and No. 5 Purdue Fort Wayne.
On Thursday, Purdue Fort Wayne plays at Youngstown State at 7 p.m. in a quarterfinal pairing already determined.
With Folgueiras sidelined for much of Robert Morris’ final regular-season victory, junior guard Josh Omojafo produced an impressive showing, earning him Horizon League Player of the Week on Sunday.
Against IU Indy, Omojafo scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including a career-high four 3-point shots. He added seven rebounds and three assists and did not commit a turnover in 36 minutes.
It marks the third consecutive week and fifth time this season that a Robert Morris player has been given the award. Senior guard Kam Woods earned the honor last week and Folgueiras, who has won it three times, was recognized on Feb. 17.