University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball Visits Big East Member South Florida
12/05/2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2006
TAMPA, Fla. - The Richmond men's basketball team makes its first trip outside of the state of Virginia when the Spiders play at South Florida on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Sun Dome.
The game can be seen in the Richmond area on Comcast channel 43 or listened to live on the radio at ESPN 950 AM, the WOLF 93.1 FM or here at RichmondSpiders.com.
Richmond is 3-3, looking to snap a three-game losing streak after opening the season with three wins.
Spider freshman Dan Geriot leads the team in scoring and is ninth in the Atlantic 10, averaging 16.2 points per game. Geriot, who has scored in double-figures in five of six games and has poured in at least 18 points in four games, also ranks 11th in the conference in field goal percentage at 47.4 percent.
Red-shirt freshman David Brewster is eighth in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 47.6 percent.
The Spiders as a team are fourth in the Atlantic 10 in 3-point field goals made, averaging 7.83 per game. Richmond also ranks fifth in field goal percentage at 46.5 percent.
The Spiders will be facing a South Florida team that has won all four games this season. The Bulls, who are in their second year as members of the Big East, are coming off a 77-72 overtime victory over Stetson on Nov. 27. Melvin Buckly leads the team in scoring at 22.8 points per game, while McHugh Mattis is averaging 17.8 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds. Solomon Bozeman is also averaging double-figures at 13.8 points per game.
The last time these two schools met, on Dec. 1, 2004, the Bulls were also 4-0 entering the game in the Robins Center but Richmond handed USF its first loss of the season 78-72. The Spiders have won all three meetings with South Florida.
This is the ninth-straight year the Spiders will face a Big East team. The Spiders will be looking to defeat a Big East team for the third-straight season, after beating Seton Hall in each of the past two years.
Richmond has a 5-10 all-time record against the Big East. Last season the Spiders defeated Seton Hall 60-49 and nearly upset No. 5 ranked Louisville in Freedom Hall on Dec. 5, 2005. Richmond lost that game 53-45 after leading by as many as 10 in the second half. Richmond has also defeated Providence (1983), West Virginia in the 2001 NIT, Seton Hall in 2004 and the well-known victory over No. 2 seed Syracuse in the 1991 NCAA Tournament. This is the ninth-straight season that Richmond has played a Big East team.