University of Richmond Athletics
Wear White On Senior Night vs. Dayton
03/02/2010 | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2010
| TWITTER
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond (22-7, 11-3 Atlantic 10) plays its last regular-season home game on Thursday, hosting Dayton at 7 p.m. for Senior Night in the Robins Center.
Fans are encouraged to wear white for the game broadcast nationally on CBS College Sports and to arrive early for Senior Night ceremonies that start at 6:50 p.m.
Richmond has defeated Dayton three-straight times in the Robins Center, including an 80-63 win over then No. 16 ranked Dayton in the Flyers last visit on Jan. 26, 2008.
Based on Wednesday night's Atlantic 10 action, Richmond clinched a bye in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the second time in the last three years. The Spiders also clinch at least a share of third place - Richmond's best finish since joining the A-10 - and no worse than the three seed in the conference tournament.
Richmond, Xavier and Temple are the only Atlantic 10 teams to earn multiple byes in the last three seasons and are the only three A-10 schools who have finished in the top-5 in the standings in each of the last three seasons.
Xavier, Temple, Richmond and Saint Louis have clinched byes for this year's Atlantic 10 Tournament, which opens on Tuesday at campus sites. The Spiders (22-7, 11-3 Atlantic 10) will play a quarterfinal game next Friday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
THE LATEST
Quick Hitters
Richmond is 23rd in the nation and 3rd in the A-10 in scoring defense (60.8 ppg);19th in the nation, 2nd in the A-10 in FG pct. defense (.390); 7th in the nation, 3rd in the A-10 in 3FG pct. defense (.284); 43rd in the nation, 3rd in A-10 in blocked shots (5.0)...Richmond has the best road record in A-10 play (5-2) and the best A-10 road record over the past 2 seasons (10-5), having won 8 of its last 10 A-10 road games. ..the Spiders and Xavier are the only teams who will have at least a .500 A-10 road record in the last 3 seasons...Xavier has the most A-10 road wins over the last 3 seasons (15), followed by UR (14)...Richmond's 8-game winning streak that ended Sunday was the longest since the 1997-98 season and the longest conference winning streak since the 1990-91 season. when the Spiders played in the CAA...Richmond has been getting plenty of national publicity, prompting a Washington Post blogger to write, "the Spiders are getting so much love from ESPN, you would think Brett Favre was their point guard."...the Spiders were featured with articles in USA Today and Sports Illustrated last week...the 2009-10 Spiders matched the 1985-86 team as the fastest to 20 wins by calendar date, both reaching the milestone on Feb. 13...the Spiders have held 14 of 28 opponents to 60 points or less and have held 21 of 29 opponents to 65 points or less...the Spiders are 13-1 at home, the best start when playing at least 10 homes games in school history...Richmond finished undefeated at home 4 times from 1921-40, but played 9 or less home games in each of those seasons...the Spiders have won 13 home games for just the 5th season in school history and for the 1st time since 1983-84...the Spiders have 8 wins against teams that played in the postseason last year....Richmond has wins over Temple (NCAA), Chattanooga (NCAA), Mississippi State (NCAA), Missouri (NCAA), Florida (NIT), Rhode Island (NIT), Old Dominion (College Insider.com Champion) and Duquesne (NIT)....the Spiders defeated Saint Louis 62-36 on Jan. 30, holding the Billikens to the lost point total for a Richmond opponent in Atlantic 10 play since joining the league in 2001-02...it was the lowest point total for a Richmond opponent since defeating American 73-32 on Feb. 21, 2001...the Spiders tied the school record for steals last season with 262 and have grabbed 244 in 28 games this season (8.4 spg), which is 2nd in the A-10...Kevin Anderson is 2nd in the A-10 in minutes played, 3rd in steals, 5th in scoring and 6th in FG pct...the Spiders have won 3-straight vs. ranked opponents with wins over No. 17 Temple on Feb. 6, No. 13 ranked Florida on Dec. 19 and No. 17 ranked Xavier last March...Richmond has won 4 of its last 6 vs. ranked teams in the last three seasons under Chris Mooney...the Spiders are 3-2 vs. teams from BCS conferences this season, giving Richmond the most wins against teams from the Power 6 conferences since the 1985-86 team defeated Providence, Wake Forest, Stanford and Virginia...Chris Mooney has 9 victories over teams from a BCS conference in 6 years as a D-I head coach, including 7 in his 5 seasons at Richmond...the Spiders have won 4 of the last 6 games against BCS teams dating back to a win over St. John's last March...the Spiders have erased deficits of 8 or more in 7 wins this season...Richmond has 3 of the 12 Spiders who have reached 1,000 points as juniors (David Gonzalvez, Kevin Anderson and Dan Geriot)...Richmond's defense held Florida to its lowest point total in a loss in Billy Donovan's 16 seasons as head coach of the Gators...it is just the 5th time in 470 games under Donovan that Florida did not reach 54 points...Richmond held Missouri to the second-lowest point total under fourth-year head coach Mike Anderson and the 2nd lowest shooting percentage of the season behind Kansas...Richmond has allowed just 86 fastbreak points in 29 games (3.0 pg)...Richmond has held the opposition to 5 fastbreak points or less in 23 of 29 games...the Spiders have held the opposition to 64 points or less in 19 of their 22 wins...Richmond has led by double-figures in 18 of its 28 games, at least 8 points in all but 4 games and by at least 6 points in all but the Xavier game...Richmond has won by 26 points or more 5 times this season...the Spiders are scoring 17.4 ppg off of turnovers, compared to 10.8 for their opponents.
A New Spider
The Spiders adopted a 14-year-old who has a brain tumor as part of the team through the Friends of Jacyln Foundation. Nathan, who is originally from Zambia, has been living in Richmond for 6 years. He attends games, practices and exchanges text messages with the players. He will be recognized before Thursday's game.
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.
Stealing The Show
The 2009-10 Spiders have three players, among the top-5 on Richmond's career list for steals. Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez are tied for third in the Atlantic 10 in steals. Gonzalvez is 4th on Richmond's all-time steals list with 164 steals, followed by Ryan Butler in 5th with 160 and Anderson 6th with 159.
Gonzo Top-10 In Scoring
Senior Reggie Brown for 2nd.
Anderson Nearing Top-10 In Scoring
Junior Kevin Anderson scored his 1,000th career point on Nov. 22 against Chattanooga, becoming the 38th Spider to reach the milestone and one of just 12 Richmond juniors to do so, joining teammates David Gonzalvez and Dan Geriot. Anderson is 11th on Richmond's all-time scoring list, just 4 points out of 10th.
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 1st-Team, while senior David Gonzalvez was tabbed to the 2nd-Team and junior Dan Geriot was named to the 3rd-Team. With Anderson, Gonzalvez and Geriot, the Spiders boast 3 of the 9 A-10 players who have earned all-conference honors in their career. Anderson was a 2nd-Team All A-10 10 pick last season, while Gonzalvez was honorable mention all-conference. Geriot was named 3rd-Team All A-10 as a sophomore, before missing last season due to injury.
Preseason Hype
Richmond was 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.
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. Jeff Butler and his wife Ruth have travelled to every road game this season.
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 3 seasons Richmond has been better on the defensive end, allowing 66.0 ppg in 2007-08, 67.5 ppg in 2008-09 and 60.8 ppg this season. 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 21 times in 157 games under Mooney and have held teams to 60 points or less 70 times, including 14 times this season. Richmond has allowed over 70 points in regulation just 37 times in Mooney's 5 seasons and has allowed 80 or more points just 12 times.
4 Man
With three players earning Preseason All-Conference Honors the Spiders are 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, A-10 coaches mentioned Harper as the league's best NBA prospect. The 6-foot-10 forward had a 28-point, 9-rebound performance in a win over Rhode Island last season with a Los Angeles Lakers scout in the Robins Center, earning him Atlantic10 Player of the Week honors. Harper also had 20 points and 8 rebounds in Richmond's win over No. 17 ranked Xavier last March and with the Lakers scout back in the Robins Center this season. He has scored in double-figures in 12 of the last 16 games.
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.
