University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts St. Bonaventure For Susan G. Komen Night
01/26/2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2007
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Richmond defeated the Bonnies 71-66 just 17 days ago in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. The Spiders have lost four straight since that victory.
The 2007 Richmond Hall of Fame Class will be honored at halftime and Saturday is Susan G. Komen Night. Proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which supports breast cancer research.
The 2007 University of Richmond Hall of Fame Class includes baseball coach Ron Atkins, former men's basketball player John Schweitz (`82), former women's basketball player Margaret Stender (`78), football player Eric Johnson (`93), and the 2002 baseball squad as the Team of Distinction.
Despite shooting poorly in the last two games, including a season-low 32.8 percent against La Salle, Richmond is still shooting 45 percent from the floor this season. The Spiders have shot over 40 percent from the floor in all but six of their 19 games this season. Richmond has shot over 50 percent from the field in five games and over 45 percent in 10 games.
Freshman David Gonzalvez scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in the previous meeting with St. Bonaventure.
Red-shirt freshman Ryan Butler has scored in double-figures in the last two games and is averaging 11 points and six rebounds in that span. Freshman Dan Geriot has scored in double-figures in four-straight games and five of the last six. He has scored in double-figures in 12 games this season and leads the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game.
The Spiders have allowed over 70 points just nine times in 49 games under Chris Mooney, but that includes giving up over 70 in the last two games. The Spiders have been getting beaten up on the boards lately. Richmond has been out-rebounded by 22 or more in three of the last four games. Richmond was only out-rebounded by St. Bonaventure by three (29-26) on Jan. 10.
The Bonnies, similar to the Spiders, started the season fast, winning three of their first five, but are 2-12 since. St. Bonaventure allows an average of 75.5 points per game and opponents shoot 48 percent against the Bonnies. Three Bonnies average double figures - Michael Lee (13.2), Paul Williams (12.5) and Zarryon Fereti (12.1).
NOTES
Spider Star Schweitz Inducted
Former Richmond men's basketball player John Schweitz will be inducted into the University of Richmond Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon. Schweitz is fourth on Richmond men's basketball's all-time scoring with 1,723 points. He capped a brilliant four-year career by leading the Spiders to their first-ever post-season berth with an appearance in the 1982 National Invitational Tournament. He averaged 17.7 points as a sophomore, 18.7 points as a junior and 17.5 points per game as a senior.
Guarded Optimism Last season, in head coach Brian Morris has scored in double-figures in five of the last nine games. Red-shirt freshman Ryan Butler has also been solid, having scored in double-figures in the last two games. He leads the team in 3-pointers with 29 on the season, including making three treys in two of the last three games.
3's Company
Richmond's offense relied heavily on the 3-point shot in 2005-06 as the Spiders took 47.7 percent of their field goal attempts from behind the arc, but shot just 29.5 percent. Richmond did not have the complement of 3-point shooters that thrive in this type of offense, but have added several players who can make the outside shot. That has showed as nine different players have made a 3-pointers and seven of them have made at least 11 trifectas. The Spiders are shooting 35.8 percent (132-of-369) from behind the arc. Richmond is fifth in the Atlantic 10 in 3-pointers per game (6.9 pg). Richmond has made a season-high 11 3-pointers twice and has made at least five 3-pointers in all but five of 19 games. Red-shirt freshman Ryan Butler leads the team with 26 3-pointers.
Gunning Down The Running Do not think the Spiders are going to get run out of the gym. Richmond has allowed only one of 19 opponents to score more than 10 fast break points in a game this season and are allowing 5.3 fast break points per game. Richmond had a season-high 22 fast-break points against Dayton on Jan. 20 and held La Salle to zero fast-break points on Wednesday night.
Adjusting To New Roles
Four of Richmond's five true freshmen - Brian Morris, David Brewster and Kevin Hovde - were the leading scorer's on their high school teams last season, each averaging over 20 points per game. (Freshman David Gonzalvez was the sixth man for Notre Dame Prep, the No. 1 prep team in the nation). While each of the freshman has scored in double-figures at least once and Geriot is leading the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, they have obviously found it tougher to score consistently in their first year in college. The challenge for head coach Chris Mooney and his staff is to get these former high school stars to perform in all areas of the game, even when they are not scoring. The freshmen have showed signs of putting it all together, just not all in the same game.
Moliva's Return On Hold
Richmond had senior Gaston Moliva back from injury last Saturday against Fordham, but Moliva suffered discomfort in his foot and did not play at St. Bonaventure on Jan. 10. The Spiders looked like a different team on Jan. 6 against Fordham with the addition of 6-foot-7, 230 pound senior Gaston Moliva, who was out for the first 13 games of the season with a stress fracture in his foot suffered in preseason practice. Moliva has missed the last three games and it appears he might not return this season, in which case he would apply for a hardship waiver in hopes of regaining his final season of eligibility.
Tenacious D
Last season the Spiders led the nation in fewest points allowed for most of the season, not allowing 60 points or more for the first 10 games of the season and finishing the year allowing 57.8 points per game. This season, with six freshmen seeing the bulk of the minutes, the Spiders have not had as much success defensively, giving up over 60 points in 16 of 19 games, but the defense has shown signs of things to come. On Dec. 5 in Tampa, Fla. the Spider freshmen seemed to finally get what the coaches have been stressing. Richmond had South Florida stuck on 28 points with just over eight minutes to play and only allowed 46 points for the game. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 12 times in 49 games under second-year head coach Chris Mooney. The Spiders have held teams to 60 points or less 19 times under Mooney and allowed over 70 points just nine times.
Needing Some More Windex
Head coach Chris Mooney knew rebounding was going to be a problem entering the season. The Spiders have been out-rebounded in 17 of 19 games this season. While Mooney believes the Spiders can get by without winning the rebounding battle, he knows they can not get beat too much on the glass. As Mooney said earlier this season, "rebounding will bother us all season because we're such a small team. If we get out-rebounded by nine then we have a chance, but we cannot get out-rebounded by 18 and expect to win." Richmond has rebounded well in four of the last six games. As head coach Chris Mooney said after the game, rebound is "usually an indication of how hard you are playing."
Two-Dimensional Richmond is not relying as heavily on the 3-point shot this year. The Spiders took 47.7 percent of their shots from behind the 3-point arc last season and are down to taking 41.0 percent of its shots from behind the arc this year. The Spiders are scoring inside more than last year, averaging 25.9 points in the paint per game.
