University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Host UMass Wednesday Night
01/15/2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2002
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -
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Richmond's men's basketball team (7-8, 1-1) plays its second Atlantic 10 home game Wednesday night when the Spiders host UMass (6-7, 0-2). Game time is 7:30.
Richmond is coming off a hard-fought 72-62 setback at Xavier Saturday, a game that the Spiders trailed by just two with under two minutes to play. The Minutemen, under first-year head coach Steve Lappas, dropped a 95-86 decision at Fordham Saturday.
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Listen as Coach John Beilein speaks with reporters on Monday's A-10 teleconference
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Listen as UMass Coach Steve Lappas speaks with reporters on Monday's A-10 teleconference
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? LAST TIME THESE TWO MET ... This is the second meeting between the two schools. Richmond and UMass met for the first time one season ago with the Spiders prevailing 63-59 in the consolation game of the Hardee's Tournament of Champions in Charlotte, N.C. Richmond, despite shooting 32 percent from the field, captured the win. The Spiders converted just six field goals in the second stanza but went 19-of-23 from the charity stripe in the decisive second period. Richmond was led in scoring by Greg Stevenson who pumped in 19 points. Rick Houston and Scott Ungerer each scored 15 points.
? NOT THE FIRST TIME FOR LAPPAS ... UMass head coach Steve Lappas is 2-0 versus the Spiders having faced Richmondin his previous coaching stint. His Villanova Wildcats 1993-94 team narrowly defeated Richmond, 81-80 on January 11, 1994 in the Robins Center. The next season at `Nova, the Wildcats stomped the Spiders, 101-70 (Dec. 22, 1994). Richmond head coach John Beilein is 0-1 in head-to-head competition with Lappas, having seen his Cansius team fall to the Wildcats during the 1993-94 season.
? WELCOME TO THE ATLANTIC 10 ... Richmond posted a 77-57 win over La Salle in its Atlantic 10 debut on January 5 but fell in its first A-10 road game, 72-62 at Xavier. The Spiders will be looking this season to top Virginia Tech's 13-3 record from the 1995-96 season as the best first-year record in league history.
? KEEP IT BELOW... Richmond's seven victories have all come this season when they have held opponents to 61 points or fewer. The Spiders and has won 14 straight games when holding their competition to 61 or fewer points. Their last last loss in which they allowed 61 points or less came last season at the hands of the Tribe of William & Mary (60-57).
? WHERE'S THE BENCH? ... Richmond's bench contributed only two points in its loss at Xavier on Saturday. When Richmond's bench has scored 10 points or fewer this season, the Spiders are 4-6. Richmond's bench has averaged 9.7 points a game this season in its 15 outings while its opponents bench has averaged 14.6 points a contest. The Appalachian State bench produced 50 of its 61 points.
? DOWN AT THE BREAK ... The Spiders are 1-7 this season when trailing at the half. Richmond's lone victory -when down at the half -came versus the Bears of SMS in the Las Vegas Classic. The Spiders trailed by 10 (36-26) at the break before staging a comeback and posting an overtime victory. Richmond is 6-1 this season when leading at the break. Mississippi State overcame a four-point deficit at the Robins Center in defeating Richmond, 71-57 on December 5th.
? NO FREEBIES.... Richmond is averaging just 10.1 team turnovers a contest, tied for SECOND FEWEST in all of Division I (UMKC also is averaging 10.1). Only Butler (9.3 TO's per game) average fewer free handouts a game. The Spiders have had 10 or fewer turnovers in nine games this season. In the past five games, they have averaged just 7.6 turnovers a game (single digits in each game). Richmond ranks FIRST in the Atlantic 10 in assist/turnover ratio.
? MR. EVERYTHING .. Tonight's contest marks senior guard/forward Scott Ungerer 100th career game as a Spider. The utility player is the only player in the Atlantic 10 to be ranked in both assists (9th in A-10) and rebounds (8th in A-10). In addition, he is ranked third in the conference in assist to turnover ratio (2.2) Ungerer leads the Spiders in both categories, rebounding (7.0) and assists (4.4). The last Richmond player to lead the team in both rebounding and assists in a single season was Scott Stapleton (1989-90 season- 3.96 apg and 4.8 rpg). The Syracuse native grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds (10 on the defensive end) in Richmond's win over Cornell on December 29. Coming into this season, Ungerer had a lifetime rebounding average of 3.29 a game. He has recorded five or more rebounds in each game this season. Ungerer has hit 12 straight free throws (12-of-12) dating back to the Cornell contest on December 29- four games. He went 11-of-22 from the charity stripe in the team's first 11 games of the season.
? MINUTE MAN ... Ungerer is averaging 38.5 minutes a game this season. He has played 158 minutes of a possible 160 in the past four contests, including the entire contest versus Xavier. He is moving up the career charts in the minutes played category. See chart. Ungerer has started more contests than any current Spider. His streak of 73 consecutive starts is the most by any Richmond player since forward Kenny Wood's string of 93 straight starts from 1990-1993. Ungerer's string of consecutive starts first began on November 24, 1999 at Navy.
? MAGNIFICENT MYERS... Junior guard Jeff Myers was just 1-of-15 from three-point range and 5-of-19 from the field in the five games prior to La Salle and Xavier. The Rockford, Ill. native is 8-of-13 from the field (.615) and 5-of-9 (.555) from three-point range in the past two contests, both starts. In addition, he is a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. In the past two games (both conference contests), Myers has recorded seven assists and three steals while committing just one turnover. He led the team in scoring versus Xavier pumping in 14 points for the second straight outing. He did that on 5-of-7 shooting (3-of 5 from behind the arc) in 37 minutes, recording two assists, three steals and NO turnovers. His 14 points versus La Salle on January 5 marked the junior's first double digit scoring effort since January 5, 2000 when he dumped in 13 points at UNC Wilmington.
? TOUGH TIMES... Sophomore forward Tony Dobbins had his worst outing of the season in Richmond's loss to Xavier on Saturday. Dobbins, recovering from an ankle injury that forced him to miss the La Salle game, failed to convert a single field goal for the first time this season. He also failed to register a steal versus the Musketeers- that also for the first time in a single game this season. Dobbins, who averaged 6.8 rebounds in the first 13 games of the season, has grabbed just 1.5 in the past two games. Dobbins scored a season-low two points and played a season-low 12 minutes versus the Musketeers. Dobbins, who shot 51-of-122 (.418) in the first eight games of the season, has connected on 15-of-49 (.306) from the field in his past five outings. He has recorded four turnovers.
? NUMBERS UP, NOT JUST POINTS FOR BROWN... Junior guard Reggie Brown failed to record a three-point field goal versus the Musketeers this past Saturday for the first time since December 8 (Charlotte 0-for-8). Brown is averaging 21.3 points in the Spiders past eight games, that after averaging 5.1 in the first seven contests. He has scored in double digits in seven of the past eight contests and scored 30 and 31 points, respectively, in two games. His numbers in both field goals made and attempts are up dramatically since the start of the season. See chart. Brown's statistics have steadily improved from seasons past in two categories: steals and rebounds. Brown registered 28 steals in 29 games one year ago- he already has 20 this season in 15 games. In the rebounding category, he grabbed 65 total boards his freshman season in 30 games (1999-00)-- This season, the junior has corralled 42 rebounds in 15 games. He averaged 1.6 rebounds in the first nine games this season-and 4.6 in the past six games, including a career-best seven versus the SMS Bears on December 22 in Las Vegas. With a lifetime assist average of 2.3 dishes a game, Brown has 39 assists so far this season (2.6 a contest), second on the team.
? SOPHOMORE SHINES ... Sophomore Mike Skrocki is one of only two Richmond players to have started every game this season (Ungerer is the other). He recorded a career-best 21 points (8 rebounds) in Richmond's 52-41 win over Cornell on December 30 and that coupled with an 11-point night in a loss to VMI earned the second-year player Spider Invitational honors. Skrocki is third on the team averaging 3.4 a game. He averaged 2.5 boards in the first eight games of the season and had recorded 4.5 a contest in the past seven games. He had 24 total rebounds a season ago, his freshman campaign. Skrocki leads the team from the charity stripe- both in free throw percentage (.844) and in free throws attempted (45). He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line versus the Explorers and 2-for-2 against Xavier. His 84.4 free throw percentage is fourth-best in the A-10.
? IMPROVEMENT CITY... Junior center Johnathan Collins leads the team in field goal percentage (and in the most improved category!), shooting .529 from the field (18-of-34). He has taken over the center spot, after the season-ending injury to Eric Zwayer, showing improvement with each and every outing. He scored a career-high 12 points (5-of-8) and added a career-best six rebounds in the loss to Xavier this past Saturday in 21 minutes of action. In the past two games he has registered six steals. He leads the team in blocked shots (1.5 per game) and his ranked fifth in the A-10. After averaging 1.6 rebounds in the first 11 games of the season, the Virginia native has pulled down 4.5 a contest in the team's past four games.
? MUCH BETTER ... Center Tim Faulconer posted his best performance of the season in Richmond's 20-point victory over La Salle last week. He attempted a season-high five fields in 12 minutes of action, accounting for one dunk, one block, a steal and four rebounds. He has averaged 13 minutes a game the past three contests that after only seeing 5.6 minutes a game the previous 12 games. The senior has grabbed nine boards in the past three games compared to five TOTAL in the previous 12 contests. He has scored eight points (total) in the last four games while registering a collective five in the previous 11 games.
BIG MAN OUT .. Junior center Eric Zwayer is out for the season. The team's second leading scorer has not seen action or dressed out in the Spiders' last seven games due to bone spurs in his right ankle. With the injury to Zwayer (7.7 ppg last season) and with the graduation of five players (including leading scorer Greg Stevenson-19.7ppg) from last season, the Spiders are without 64.7 percent of their offense. At the time of his injury, Zwayer was averaging 10.8 points in Richmond's first six games. Zwayer had surgery this past week.
