Farm Bureau Insurance Black & Blue Classic Luncheon Friday; Game Saturday Downtown At The Siegel Center

Dec. 7, 2007

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RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's basketball team will head downtown to face city-rival VCU in the Farm Bureau Insurance Black & Blue Classic on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Siegel Center.

The game will be televised on CN8 The Spiders enter the contest at 4-5, while VCU has won two-straight to improve to 5-3 overall. A luncheon will be held at Shula2's on West Broad St. at noon on Friday, featuring both head coaches.

THE LATEST

The youthful Spiders - with just three active scholarship players above their sophomore year - continue to struggle with playing a full 40 minutes. Richmond led South Florida 39-38 with under 13 minutes to play Wednesday night, but the Spiders continued their second-half struggles, letting a quick 16-3 run over the next four minutes put USF up by 13. The Spiders closed that gap to six with 3:23 to play, but lost by 14.

Seven of Richmond's nine games have been decided by six points or less with six of the nine decided by three points or less. In the two games decided by more than six points - a loss to No. 2 Memphis and Wednesday's setback to USF - the Spiders trailed by six or less with under 6:30 to play.

The Spiders have had double-digit leads in three of its four road games and have led by at least seven points in eight of nine games (the Spiders largest lead vs. South Florida was four).

Richmond has clearly been a first half team through nine games. The Spiders have led at the half in six of nine games, been tied at the half once and trailed No. 2 Memphis by one at the break on Nov. 6. The Spiders have held a lead in the final 14 minutes of all nine games.

The Spiders are receiving 79.9 percent of their scoring from freshmen and sophomores, and in the past two games just 16 of 123 points have come from juniors and seniors.

Richmond's leading scorers - Dan Geriot and David Gonzalvez - have scored in double-figures in the same game once this season.

The Spiders have 12 or less turnovers in the last three games.

Chris Mooney will coach his 100th Division I game Saturday.

Richmond will be playing its one road game in a 45-day period and the Spiders do not even have to leave the Capital City.

SCOUTING RICHMOND: The Spiders went back to the basics in practice Thursday, doing several hustle and rebounding drills after being out-rebounded 46-24 on Wednesday against South Florida. Richmond has grabbed 26 rebounds or less in the last four games. The Spiders were down just 19-16 on the boards at the half, but got out-rebounded 27-8 in the second half. Richmond grabbed only 16 defensive rebounds against USF.
SCOUTING VCU: The Rams have won two-straight and three of the last four, including an 85-76 win over Maryland. Jamal Shuler leads the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game and Eric Maynor is averaging 16.1 points and 5.9 assists per game. VCU is averaging 8.4 steals per game and forcing 16.5 turnovers per game. The Rams have won all three home games this season.

Quotable
Head coach Chris Mooney on the Spiders struggles from three-point land: "We haven't shot as well as I think we're capable of. We shot pretty well versus William & Mary, but to shoot 8-of-28, I really think we're a better shooting team than that. That's not going to be good enough to win. If you're going to take that many you are going to have to shoot a higher percentage. We need to shoot better and maybe shooting better is taking better shots."

Tale Of Two halves
The Spiders have been more of a first-half team this season, scoring 299 points for a 33.2 average before intermission, while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from three-point land. In the second half, Richmond has scored just 252 points for a 28.0 average (6.3 points less than in the first half). The Spiders are shooting just 40.1 percent in the second half and just 31.2 percent from behind the arc. The Spiders are outscoring their opponents by 3.1 points in the first half and being outscored by 6.1 points in the second half. Richmond has especially struggled in the game's final five minutes. The comeback against William & Mary was an exception. The Spiders are shooting just 32.8 percent (21-of-64) in the final five minutes of games. The Spiders have led with five minutes to play in four games, and three of those games have ended up in the loss column.

Three Falling
The Spiders are shooting just 33.2 percent from behind the three-point arc through eight games and made just 8-of-28 shots from behind the arc against South Florida. But the Spiders had shot over 40 percent from three in the previous two games and have made 32 treys in the last three games for a 10.7 per game average. Richmond made 10 three-pointers against Marist and then made 14 in the win over William & Mary. Fourteen three-pointers in a game was one short of the Robins Center record. While the Spiders have not shot a high percentage from three, they have been making the trifecta. Richmond has made at least six three-pointers in seven of nine games and senior David Gonzalvez is 14th in the Atlantic 10 in three-point field goals made per game (2.11) with 20 on the season.

Atlantic 10 Fifth In RPI The Atlantic 10 ranks fifth in the latest men's basketball collegerpi.com conference rankings. 1. ACC, 0.6074
2. Pac 10, 0.5884
3. Big 12, 0.5847
4. Big East, 0.5820
5. Atlantic 10, 0.5480
6. Big Ten, 0.5447
7. Missouri Valley, 0.5446
8. SEC, 0.5412

Stealing The Show
The Spiders are second in the Atlantic 10 in steals per game at 9.56 per contest. Richmond has 86 steals, which leads the conference. Sophomore David Gonzalvez leads the team and is sixth in the conference at 1.89 steals per game. The Spiders have five different players with double-digits in steals. Gonzalvez has 17 steals, while sophomore Ryan Butler has 14 steals. Freshman Kevin Anderson, senior Oumar Sylla and sophomore Kevin Hovde each have 12 steals through nine games.

The Moliva Difference
Senior Gaston Moliva played his first game of the season last Wednesday against William & Mary. Moliva played just six minutes, but will get the start against South Florida. Moliva missed all but one game last season due to a stress fracture in his left foot, but he received a medical redshirt to return for the 2007-08 season. In preseason practice, Moliva suffered a stress fracture on his other foot, and has not played this season. Head coach Chris Mooney refers to Moliva as the best defender he has ever coached, and that includes serving on the staff at Air Force as the Falcons led the nation in fewest points allowed four-straight season. Moliva has made a drastic difference when he has been in the lineup during Mooney's three season. In the 32 games Moliva has played in Mooney's match-up zone, the Spiders have held teams to 58.4 points per game. In the 37 games under Mooney that Moliva has not played, the Spiders are giving up 67.4 points per game for almost a 10-point increase.

The Big Man On Campus
Sophomore 6-foot-9 center Dan Geriot put on quite a scoring exhibition in a five-game stretch from Nov. 10 through Nov. 24. He scored over 20 points four times and reached double-figures in all five games. Over that five-game stretch, the Springfield, Pa. native averaged 19.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He shot 54.5 percent (33-of-66) in the span, including 44.4 percent from three-point land (8-of-18). Overall, Geriot leads the team with a 14.4 scoring average and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Tenacious D
In Chris Mooney's first season at Richmond in 2005-06, 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 year. The Spiders finished the year allowing 57.8 points per game, which ranked seventh in the country. Last season, with five freshmen seeing the bulk of the minutes, the Spiders did not have as much success defensively, giving up over 60 points in 27 of 30 games. This season the more mature Spiders' are getting back to their defensive stinginess from two years ago. Richmond is fourth in the Atlantic 10 in fewest points allowed at 64.7 per game and has held four of the last six opponents to 65 points or less. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 13 times in 69 games under Mooney. The Spiders have held teams to 60 points or less 22 times under Mooney and allowed over 70 points just 16 times in 69 games.

Two-Dimensional
The Spiders finished the 2006-07 season ranked 35th in the nation in two-point field goal percentage, shooting 52.6 percent from inside the arc. Richmond shot 35.0 percent from behind the arc and 45.4 percent from the field. Richmond is shooting 48.6 percent on two-point field goals this season, while they are shooting only 33.9 percent from 3.

Using More Windex
The Spiders have made improvements in rebounding this season, but still need to improve on the glass. That will be aided by the return of 6-foot-7 senior forward Gaston Moliva. The Spiders are being out-rebounded by 8.6 boards per game this year. Richmond is averaging 28.9 rebounds per game, which is an increase over the 24.1 the Spiders averaged last year. While Richmond is doing a lot better on the defensive boards, the Spiders are also crashing hard on the offensive glass. Richmond is averaging 9.2 offensive rebounds per game through four games, compared to a 6.0 average on "O" rebounds last season.

Spiders Sign Three
Richmond head coach Chris Mooney announced the addition of three prospective student-athletes to the men's basketball program. Australian native Josh Duinker has signed an athletic grant-in-aid with the Spiders and is planning on attending the University of Richmond as a full-time student in January, 2008. Powder Springs, Ga. native Darrius Garrett and Quebec native Francis Cedric Martel have signed letters of intent and will attend the University of Richmond beginning with the Fall, 2008 semester. The incoming class was ranked 60th in the nation by Hoop Scoop Online. Duinker (pronounced Dunk-er) is a 6-foot-9, 210 pound forward from New South Wales Institute of Sport in Hornsby, Australia. He is on track to graduate high school in early December and is planning to attend the University of Richmond in January, 2008. Duinker will be immediately eligible to practice with the team. He played on the Australian National Junior Team in 2007 and was a participant in the 2007 All-Australian Camp. Garrett is a 6-8, 185-pound forward from Powder Springs, Ga. who plays at McEachem High, where he averaged 8.0 points, 7.2 rebounds hasand 4.2 blocks per game as a junior. An explosive athlete around the basket, Garrett flourishes in transition and is a strong rebounder and shot blocker. Garrett played on the same AAU team - the Worldwide Renegades - with current Richmond freshman Kevin Anderson. He will be one of three players on the 2008-09 roster from Georgia, joining Anderson and David Gonzalvez. Martel is a 6-foot-5, 180-pound guard from the Montmorency College in Laval, Quebec, where he averaged 15.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Martel is a very athletic, guard who handles the ball well and shoots a high percentage from 3-point land.

Gunning Down The Running
The Spiders did a good job of stopping up tempo teams in 2006-07, allowing the opposition to score more than 10 fast break points in just three of 30 games last year. The Spiders allowed 5.4 fast break points per game last year and have allowed 5.7 fastbreak points per game this year. Richmond has held the opposition to eight or less fastbreak points in seven of nine games this year.

Closing The Deal
The Spiders knew they finished the 2006-07 season strong, but after the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll came out, it is even more impressive how the youthful Richmond team finished up. Over the last four games, the Spiders enjoyed double-figure leads in victories against the teams predicted to finish second (Rhode Island) and third (Saint Joseph's), and lost 63-61 in the conference tourney to the team picked fourth (Fordham).

Protecting The Ball
Richmond was first in the Atlantic 10 in fewest turnovers per game in conference games (11.1 tpg) and first in turnover margin (+4.0). The Spiders were tied for second in overall turnovers per game (12.9), just behind Temple (12.7). Richmond had single-digit turnovers in 10 games, including the four of the last five, and stayed out of the teens in 17 of 30 games. The Spiders are averaging 15.6 turnovers per game through nine games this season, but have had 12 turnovers or less in the last three games, averaging 11.3 turnovers per game in that stretch.

Geriot Named All-Rookie
Dan Geriot was named to the 2006-07 Atlantic 10's All Rookie Team, the second Spider in Richmond's six years in the league to earn a spot on the conference's all-rookie team, joining teammate Gaston Moliva. The Spiders have had nine Academic All-Conference selections in six years in the Atlantic 10. Geriot led the Spiders in scoring at 11.9 points per game, scoring in double-figures 19 times and scoring 16 or more points in 10 games.

Deja Vu All Over Again
Head men's basketball coach Chris Mooney is entering his third year at the University of Richmond, but it does not feel like that for the 35-year old. Mooney feels like he had two "first" years. The former head coach at Air Force inherited a Richmond program with no guards and only seven scholarship players in 2005-06. Mooney's second year became another first year as six freshmen filled the roster and the top four scorers were freshmen. Now comes an actual second year of rebuilding as the Spiders will have two seniors, four experienced sophomores and another large group of six freshmen.

Youth Being Served
The Spiders were a young team last year with five freshmen who play at least 15 minutes per game, four of whom were Richmond's top four scorers. The Spiders started four freshmen in 10 games and at least three freshmen in 25 of 30 games. The Spiders received 68.2 percent of their scoring from freshmen, the largest percent of freshmen scoring contribution in the Atlantic 10.

Like Player, Like Coach
Spider head coach Chris Mooney has shown he is not afraid to play freshmen significant minutes in his time at Richmond, although some of that was by necessity. But Mooney does know that freshmen can step right in and contribute. He pulled the rare accomplishment of starting as a freshman for Hall of Fame coach Pete Carril at Princeton, doing so on a defending Ivy League championship team that had all five starters returning. Mooney was the runner-up for Ivy League Rookie of the Year, helping the Tigers to the Ivy League title and a NCAA bid in 1990-91.

The Name Game
The 2007-08 Richmond roster shares a lot of names, starting with two Smiths (Conor and Kevin), two versions of McLean (Duncan)/McClain (Chris), three Chris' (Richard, McClain and head coach Chris Mooney) and four Kevin's (Anderson, Hovde, Smith and assistant coach Kevin McGeehan).

Like Father, Like Son
Richmond sophomore Ryan Butler and his father Jeff Butler are the second father-son duo to play for the Spiders, joining Pat DiServio (1981-83) and Tony DiServio (1945-47). Jeff Butler was a star for the Spiders from 1975-77, leading the team in scoring both seasons. He averaged 14.3 points per game in 1975-76 and 16.3 points per game in 1976-77. Jeff Butler was later an assistant coach for the Spiders under Hall of Fame coach Dick Tarrant, who regularly attends games in the Robins Center. Ryan Butler grew up in the shadow of campus and starred at Douglas Freeman High three miles from campus.

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