University of Richmond Athletics
Second-Place Spiders Head To Nation's Capital For Saturday Matinee
02/22/2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2008
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Richmond men's basketball team, which is tied for second in the Atlantic 10, heads up Route 95 to play George Washington on Saturday at 2 p.m.
This is the first of two-straight road games for the Spiders (14-10, 7-4 Atlantic 10). Richmond is 5-5 on the road this season and 3-2 on the road in conference play. George Washington is 6-3 at the Smith Center this season.
THE TEAMS
SCOUTING RICHMOND: The Spiders are 10-4 in the last 14 games and have won four of the last five as they find themselves in the thick of things in the race for a bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Richmond is tied for second with five games to play in the tight A-10 race. The Spiders are 7-0 in the last 14 games when they out-rebound their opponent.
SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON: The Colonials (7-14, 3-8 Atlantic 10) have won two of the last three games after a seven-game losing streak . George Washington is one of two teams in the Atlantic 10 averaging less points per game (63.1 ppg) than the Spiders (64.0). The Colonials did score 80 points in the win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. George Washingto is 6-3 at home this season and 1-10 on the road. Rob Diggs leads the team in scoring at 13.8 ppg.
THE LATEST
Quick Hitters
The Spiders' next win would give Richmond its most victories since recording 20 in the NCAA Tournament season of 2003-04...Kevin Anderson is the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the third time in the last five weeks...only two times in the last 14 games has the opposition made more field goals than the Spiders...Richmond is 11-1 when it has a higher shooting percentage than its opponent...Richmond has been no worse than in a one-possession game at the half in 19 of 24 games this season......Richmond is 13-3 when freshman Kevin Smith plays at least 16 minutes...Richmond is third in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage for conference games, shooting 46.7 percent through 11 A-10 contests...the Spiders have led by at least seven points in 18 of 23 games this season and have led by at least four points in all but three games...Richmond has its most road wins (5) since the 2003-04 NCAA Tournament season (8)...Richmond is 5-1 in overtime games under Chris Mooney...the Spiders are 8-0 all-time in triple OT games after a 75-74 triple OT victory at La Salle on Jan. 9...Charlotte's Leemire Goldwire is averaging 20.5 points in 23 games not against Richmond and just 4.5 in two games against the Spiders.
Stealing The Show
The Spiders are second in the Atlantic 10 and 33rd in the nation in steals at 8.79 per contest. Richmond has double-digits steals in 10 games this season and at least seven steals in 21 of 24 games.. Richmond has three players in the top-15 in the conference in steals. Sophomore Ryan Butler and freshman Kevin Anderson are tied for sixth (1.74) and sophomore David Gonzalvez is 14th (1.43).
A-10 On The Rebound
After a few down years the Atlantic 10 looks to be back among the nation's elite conferences. The conference, which has had at least four teams in the NCAA Tournament on five occasions since 1996, will look to put three or more teams in the NCAAs for the first time since 2004. That season Richmond was one of four A-10 teams in the Big Dance and No. 1 ranked Saint Joseph's and Xavier advanced to the Elite 8. This season the A-10 has been as high as fifth in the RPI and is currently seventh. The conference has had as many as three teams ranked in the same week this season. The non-conference winning percentage of .649 (122-66) is the fourth-highest winning percentage since the formation of the league in 1976-77 and the highest since the 1993-94 campaign (.663).
The Big Man On Campus
Sophomore 6-foot-9 center Dan Geriot scored the third most points by a Spider freshman with 356 and has 323 through 23 games this season (14.0 ppg) giving him 679 points through 53 college games (12.9 ppg). He has the fifth-highest career scoring total for a sophomore at Richmond and is on pace to have one of the school's top-4 scoring totals through sophomore year. 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). Geriot is averaging 15.6 points per game in Atlantic 10 play, which ranks 11th in the A-10, and leads the team with an overall scoring average of 14.0. He also leads the Spiders in rebounding (5.3 rpg) and is averaging 8.5 rebounds per game over the last four contests. He has scored in double-figures 15 times this season and 34 times in his career. Sophomore David Gonzalvez has 570 points, which is the 11th highest career-scoring total among sophomores at Richmond.
Balanced Attack
Richmond has had a balanced scoring attack all season. The team's top two scorers, sophomores Dan Geriot and David Gonzalvez, had only scored in double-figures in the same game four times in the first 21 games, but have done so in the last three games. The Spiders have eight different players who have scored in double-figures this season. Richmond has had four different players lead the team in scoring in the last six games.
Youth Movement
Richmond has just three scholarship players in their junior and senior seasons and the Spiders are receiving 80.5 percent of their scoring from freshmen and sophomores. Richmond's top four scorers are freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore Dan Geriot (13.9) leads the team in scoring, followed by sophomore David Gonzalvez (12.2), freshman Kevin Anderson (9.3) and sophomore Ryan Butler (6.2). Freshman Kevin Smith is sixth on the team in scoring (5.0 ppg).
Causing Turnover
The Spiders are third in the A-10 in turnovers forced, causing 17.1 turnovers per game. They have forced the opposition into 20 or more turnovers seven times this year.
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 is shooting 50.1 percent on two-pointers this season.
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 4.9 fastbreak points per game this year. Richmond has held the opposition to eight or less fastbreak points in 20 of 24 games this year.
Tale Of Two Halves
The Spiders had clearly been a first-half team for the first 10 games of this season, averaging just 26.7 points in the second half and shooting just 38.5 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from three after the break. While the Spiders have improved their second-half play, including scoring 40 second-half points in the win over Temple, Richmond still has had it struggles after the break. The Spiders were tied with Rhode Island at the half, but were out-scored by 14 in the second session. Richmond let leads of 17 (with 13 minutes to play), 11 (with four minutes to play) and seven (with three minutes to play) slip away in the second half of three of its non-conference losses.
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 65.5 per game. Richmond has held 13 teams to 65 points or less this season and has not allowed over 66 points in regulation of the last five games. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 15 times in 84 games under Mooney and have held teams to 60 points or less 26 times under Mooney, including seven times this season. Richmond has allowed over 70 points just 19 times in Mooney's three seasons at Richmond.
Spiders Earn A-10 Honors
Richmond freshmen Kevin Smith and Kevin Anderson have each earned Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors this season, giving the Spiders four players on the roster who have earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors in the last two years. Anderson has received the award three times this season, all coming in the last five weeks. He is the current A-10 Rookie of the Week after scoring 11 points and dishing out a career-high eight assists in the win at Duquesne. Anderson also received the award after scoring a game-high 17 points in the win over Charlotte on Feb. 2. He first received the honor on Jan. 21 after averaging 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in two games. He scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in a win over St. Bonaventure on Jan. 16. Smith received the honor on Jan. 6 after scoring a career-high 13 points in Richmond's win over Virginia Tech on Jan. 3. He also had a career-high five assists and tied a career-high with five rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes.
Cutting Down The Threes
Through the first nine games of the 2007-08 season the Spiders were letting three-pointers fly at a clip of 20.5 per game, making an average of 6.8 per game and shooting just 33.5 percent. In the last 15 games Richmond is averaging 18.4 three-pointers and has made 6.9 per game. Richmond shot 20 or more three-pointers in seven of the first nine games, but has shot 20 or more threes just five times in the last 15 games. The Spiders are 11-1 when they shoot under 20 three-pointers, 3-9 when the shoot 20 or more treys.
Duinker Dunks In ROBC
Sydney, Australia native Josh Duinker arrived in the United States for the first time, landing in Richmond two weeks ago after a 30-hour trip. The 6-foot-10, 215 pound forward/center began taking classes and practicing with the team two days later. He has showed athleticism, living up to his name with several dunks and displayed a smooth shooting stroke and the ability to dribble. The plan is to have Duinker redshirt this season and begin play as a freshman with the Spiders in 2008-09. Darrius Garrett, of Powder Springs, Ga., and Quebec native Francis-Cedric Martel have signed letters of intent and will attend the University of Richmond beginning with the Fall, 2008 semester.
Rising Stock
The Spiders are beginning to catch the eye of the national media. After their win over Charlotte on Feb. 2, Richmond was tabbed the Rising Stock team of the week by the Dallas Morning News in its Sunday College Basketball section. Richmond is being called the Cinderella team of the Atlantic 10 by USAToday.com and "the scariest part is with one of the youngest rosters in the Atlantic 10 even better days are likely ahead."
