University of Richmond
No. 8 Purdue
Richmond Handles No. 8 Ranked Purdue
11/27/2010 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2010
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Kevin Anderson scored 28 points and Richmond's defense and rebounding owned No. 8 Purdue in a 65-54 win in the finals of the 2010 Chicago Invitational Tournament.
The Spiders held a previously unbeaten Purdue team that came in averaging 85.1 points per game to just 14 first-half points on 16.0 percent shooting. Richmond (6-1) held the No. 8 ranked Boilermakers without a field goal for the last 12:11 of the first half and the drought reached 14 minutes, before a layup by All-American E'Twaun Moore.
Richmond continued to play stifling defense, as Moore's field goal became the only Boilermaker basket in a 19 minute span bridging the two halves. The Spiders led by as many as 14 in the second half, despite shooting its lowest field goal percentage of the season (42.1 percent).
"I told our guys: [Richmond] didn't play well," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "They played hard ... but they didn't shoot the ball as well as they were capable of. I told our guys this could have been a lot worse than it was."
The Spiders cleaned up on the glass, out-rebounding the Boilermakers 44-35, including 28-17 in the first half.
It was the highest ranked opponent the Spiders defeated since the 1991 NCAA tournament, when Richmond toppled seventh ranked Syracuse. Richmond improved to 8-0 in regular-season tournaments, winning a tourney title for the second-straight year. Kevin Anderson was named the tournament MVP. Anderson was also named MVP after Richmond won the South Padre Island Invitational last November with wins over Mississippi State and Missouri.
The Spiders have won five of their last six against ranked opponents, and six of their last nine. Head coach Chris Mooney has eight wins over BCS teams in his six seasons at Richmond. The Spiders remaining schedule includes Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Seton Hall and Wake Forest.
Justin Harper added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Darien Brothers chipped in with 11 points and four rebounds.
Junior Francis-Cedric Martel had six points and six rebounds, while senior Dan Geriot made a key reverse layup down the stretch to keep Richmond's lead comfortable and had six assists.
Geriot and Brothers joined Anderson on the All-Tournament team.
The Spiders are the winners of four straight. They travel to Norfolk on Wednesday to take on in-state rival Old Dominion.
