University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
VIRGINIA
Men's Basketball Falls To Virginia
11/23/2005 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond men's basketball team only trailed Virginia by one point at the half Tuesday night, but the Cavaliers were able to pull away for a 59-43 victory.
Richmond trailed by as many as nine in the first half, but closed the gap to 26-25 after a 3-pointer by sophomore Monty Sanders and a lay-up at the halftime buzzer by red-shirt freshman Jarhon Giddings.
The Spiders connected on 7-of-15 shots from behind the arc in the first half, while dishing out nine assists and committing just four turnovers.
"I though our first half shooting was good," Richmond first-year head coach Chris Mooney said. "Shooting is something we need to continue to work on."
Because in the second half, the Spiders did not make a 3-pointer and hit just six field goals against Virginia's man-to-man defense.
"We were waiting for them to play us man a little bit, and when they did I didn't think we seized the opportunity," Mooney said.
As they have done in each of their four halves this season, the Spiders struggled offensively in the opening minutes of the second session. Virginia went up by nine with 13:22 left and while the Spiders pulled within five at 36-31 on a lay-up by senior Kevin Steenberge with 10:32 to play, Virginia went on a 12-3 run to open up a 14-point lead with 5:46 remaining.
"They switched the defense on us," senior Jermaine Bucknor said. "I don't think they though we were going to shoot the ball that well in the first half. They played quite a bit of zone in the first half and everybody was knocking down shots for us. Then they pushed it up in the second and played a lot of man-to-man. It threw us off a little bit, but it was good to see guys hitting shots in the first half."
Bucknor led the Spiders in scoring for the second-straight game with 15 points, his second time in as many games scoring in double figures. He hit three 3-pointers for the second-straight game. It was the 14th time in his career that he connected on at least three treys in a game and the 26th game he sank multiple 3-pointers. Steenberge and Giddings each scored eight points for Richmond
Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds paced the Cavaliers (2-0) with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
"I thought the game got away from us slowly when we didn't guard Reynolds well," Mooney said. "He is very good with the ball in his hands and can make difficult shots. I don't think we guarded him enough. We gave up 59 points, but we needed to guard him tighter than that."
Fellow guard Sean Singletary also reached double figures with 14 points, but the Spiders did force the Cavaliers into 18 turnovers and kept their opponent under 60 points for the second-straight game. Now it will be a matter of finding an offensive flow as the players continue to learn the very precise Princeton offense.
"That offense is a pain-in-the-neck to play against and it will only get better," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "I am happy we played them the second game of the year as opposed to the 22nd game of the year. I know they will be much, much better at it as the season goes on."
Richmond returns to action on Saturday when they host McNeese State at 1 p.m. in the Robins Center. It is the third of four home games to start the season for the Spiders."
