University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Play At VCU In Farm Bureau Insurance Black & Blue Classic
12/09/2009 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2009
RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond (7-1), receiving votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls, will play city-rival VCU Saturday downtown at the Verizon Wireless Arena at 7:30 p.m. in the Farm Bureau Insurance Black & Blue Classic.
The Spiders are 39th in the AP Poll and 42nd in the ESPN/USA Today Poll, along with 19th in the RPI according to RealTimeRPI.com. Richmond is off to its second-best start since the 1954-55 season and will be looking to match the third-best start in school history with a win Saturday.
VCU enters the game at 5-2, including a perfect 4-0 record at home in the Verizon Wireless Arena.
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The weekend's festivities kickoff with the Farm Bureau Insurance Black & Blue Classic Luncheon at Home Team Grill in The Fan on Friday at 11:30 a.m. As part of the luncheon, which will air live on ESPN Radio 950 with host Greg Burton, the Salvation Army will be collecting new sporting goods to benefit its Holiday Cheer and Gear program.
THE LATEST
Quick Hitters
Richmond has two of the 11 Spiders who have scored 1,000 points as juniors (David Gonzalvez and Kevin Anderson) and junior Dan Geriot (865 points) needs just 135 points to become the 12th...the Spiders allowed zero fastbreak points in wins over Mississippi State and Missouri, the self-proclaimed Fastest 40 Minutes In Basketball...Richmond has allowed just 10 fastbreak points in eight games (1.3 pg)...the Spiders have held the opposition to 62 points or less and under 38 percent shooting in its seven victories...Richmond has led by double-figures in seven of its eight games and at least nine points in every game...Richmond held Missouri to the second-lowest point total under fourth-year head coach Mike Anderson...the Spiders have held three of the top-8 teams in the nation in scoring last season to 62 points or less this year (VMI, Missouri, Miss. St.)...Missouri is averaging 89.5 in its six games not against Richmond, and was held to 52 points by the Spiders...the Spiders tied the school record for steals last season with 262 and have already grabbed 70 in eight games this season (8.8 spg)....even with allowing William & Mary to shoot 51 percent from the field the Spiders are holding opponents to just 36.0 percent shooting...Richmond has forced over 20 turnovers three times in seven games and at least 19 turnovers in four of the eight games...the Spiders are scoring 19.4 ppg off of turnovers, compared to just 10.5 for their opponents...the Spiders are averaging 32.0 points per game and the paint, while holding the opposition to just 21.4 points in the paint per game...Richmond defeated VMI 103-59 on Nov. 16, marking the first time since a game against George Mason on Jan. 29, 1996 that the Spiders scored 100 points....Richmond dished out a school record 31 assists against VMI... the Spiders made 41 field goals against VMI, the most field goals for Richmond since making 41 on Dec. 3, 1994 in a win over VMI...the 44-point margin of victory was the fourth largest for the Spiders since 1955 and tied for the 13th largest margin of victory all-time.
South Padre Island Champions
The Spiders won the 2009 South Padre Island Invitational, defeating defending SEC Champion Mississippi State in the semifinals and defending Big 12 Champion Missouri in the title game. Kevin Anderson was named tournament MVP, while Ryan Butler and David Gonzalvez joined him on the All-Tournament Team. The four previous winners of the South Padre Island Invitational were Illinois (twice), Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State. The last time the Spiders defeated BCS teams in back-to-back games was in the 1988 NCAA Tourney with wins over Indiana and Georgia Tech. Richmond has won three-straight games against BCS conference teams, including the win over St. John's last season, Richmond's longest winning streak against teams from the BCS conferences since winning four-straight in the 1985-86 season. Chris Mooney has defeated six BCS teams in five seasons at Richmond and eight BCS teams in six seasons as a head coach.
Gonzo Rising In Record Book
Senior Mike Skrocki for third.
Anderson Scores 1,000th Point
Junior Kevin Anderson scored his 1,000th career point on Nov. 22 against Chattanooga, becoming the 38th Spider to reach the milestone and just the 11th Richmond junior to do so. Anderson has 1,068 points, which ranks 30th on Richmond's all-time scoring list.
A-10 tion
Only four of the 14 Atlantic 10 teams have finished in the top-5 in the conference standings in each of the past two seasons, Xavier, Temple, Saint Joseph's and Richmond.
Preseason Hype
Richmond has been picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 by almost every preseason poll, including the conference's coaches and media poll from which they received four first-place votes. USA Today and FoxSports.com have the Spiders in the 2010 NCAA Tournament field, while FoxSports' Jeff Goodman had the Spiders on his list of Twenty More To Watch outside the Top-25. ESPN's Jay Bilas, Fran Frachilla and Andy Katz mentioned the Spiders multiple times in their blogs and the Denver Post ranked Richmond as the No. 4 on its list of program's on the rise. Jay Bilas and Fran Fraschilla both picked the Spiders as the nation's sleeper team for this season. Lindy's ranked Kevin Anderson as the No. 17 best point guard in the nation and Dan Geriot as the No. 23 center, while FoxSports.com's Goodman tabbed Gonzalvez the No. 39 best shooter in the country. After watching Richmond down Mississippi State and Missouri in the South Padre Island Invitational, Mizzou beat writer Steve Walentik wrote of the Spiders, "I'll be surprised if they don't wind up as an NCAA Tournament team."
Preseason Honors
The Spiders have piled up the preseason honors as the only Atlantic 10 team with three players earning preseason all-conference honors. Junior Kevin Anderson was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference First-Team, while senior David Gonzalvez was tabbed to the Second-Team and junior Dan Geriot was named to the Third-Team. With Anderson, Gonzalvez and Geriot, the Spiders boast three of the nine A-10 players who have earned all-conference honors in their career. Anderson was a Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 pick last season, while Gonzalvez was honorable mention all-conference. Geriot was named Third-Team All A-10 as a sophomore, before missing last season due to injury.
4 Man
With three players earning Preseason All-Conference Honors the Spiders are looking very capable of scoring on the offensive end, but do not forget about forward Justin Harper. A sportswriter passed on that when doing a preview for one of the summer preseason publications, Atlantic 10 coaches mentioned Harper as the league's best NBA prospect. The 6-foot-10 forward had a 28-point, nine-rebound performance in a win over Rhode Island last season with a Los Angeles Lakers scout in the Robins Center, earning him Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors. Harper also had 20 points and eight rebounds in Richmond's win over No. 17 ranked Xavier. Harper is third on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game, while he only scored a total of 15 points in the wins over Missouri and Mississippi State, Fox College Sports analyst Reid Gettys said Harper "could be the most athletic player on the floor" during the Missouri telecast.
Like Father Like Son
Richmond junior 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. Butler scored a career-high 19 points in the win over Mississippi State and was named to the All-Tournament Team as the Spiders won the South Padre Island Invitational.
The Posse Revisited
Tulane coach Perry Clark used a second unit called the Posse in the early 1990s to speed up the pace of the game and utilize his deep bench. Chris Mooney has begun using his own version of the posse in the first five games, before not going with the unit against Mississippi State and Missouri. Starter David Gonzalvez goes to the bench a few minutes into each half and returns two minutes later with Francis-Cedric Martel, Darrius Garrett, Darien Brothers and Kevin Smith. The group looks to press and push the tempo more while giving the Spiders' deep bench some minutes.
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. with a complex match-up zone that frustrated opponents. The Spiders finished the year allowing 57.8 points per game, which ranked seventh in the country. In 2006-07, with five freshmen seeing the bulk of the minutes, the Spiders did not have as much success defensively, but the past two seasons Richmond has been better on the defensive end, allowing 67.5 ppg in 2008-09 and 66.0 ppg in 2007-09. After a slow start on the defensive end last season, Richmond held back-to-back opponents (Rice and George Washington) to under 50 points for the first time since the 1950-51 season. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 19 times in 135 games under Mooney and have held teams to 60 points or less 62 times. Richmond has allowed over 70 points just 35 times in Mooney's five seasons and has allowed 80 or more points just 12 times. The Spiders are holding the opposition to 58.1 points per game through eight games, which is 24th in the nation. Richmond is holding the opposition to 36.0 percent shooting, which leads the A-10 and is ninth in the nation.
Spiders Sign 3
Chris Mooney announced the signing of guard Cedrick Lindsay (Washington, D.C.), guard Wayne Sparrow (Baltimore, Md.) and forward Derrick Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) to National Letters of Intent. "We are thrilled with this recruiting class," Mooney said. "These three players come from three of the best high school programs in the country." Lindsay is a 6-foot-0 guard who plays for coach Steve Turner at No. 20 ranked Gonzaga College Prep, Sparrow a 6-foot-3 guard from St. Frances Academy who plays for former Temple star Mark Karcher and Williams is a 6-foot-6 forward who plays for legendary coach Bob Hurley at No. 24 ranked St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City.