Men's Basketball Plays At La Salle Saturday On Comcast Sports Net

Jan. 7, 2011

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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Richmond makes the first of three visits to Philadelphia this season when it plays at La Salle on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a game televised on Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic and Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia.

The game can also be heard on ESPN Radio 950AM, The WOLF 93.1FM, Sirius Channel 126, on RichmondSpiders.com and on your Droid, Blackberry or IPhone at espn950am.com/m.

Richmond and La Salle have split 24 meetings with the Spiders having won in their last two visits to Tom Gola Arena.

THE LATEST
• Richmond opened Atlantic 10 play with a 71-59 victory over Charlotte on Wednesday. The Spiders improved to 12-4 on the season with 10 of those wins coming by double-figures. In two of the Spiders' losses, Richmond had the lead with 3 seconds remaining in regulation. Richmond is off to sixth-best start in school history, matching last year's team for the best 16-game start in 22 years. A win Saturday would be the best start since the 1987-88 team started 14-3 and the third best start in 56 seasons. Richmond started 12-5 last season. • The Spiders have had the best Atlantic 10 conference road record in each of the past 2 seasons and the best combined A-10 road record over the past two seasons at 11-5, having won 9 of their last 11 A-10 road games. Richmond's two road losses in that stretch were a 5-point loss at Saint Louis last January and a two-point, double-overtime loss at Xavier last March. The Spiders are undefeated in their 5 A-10 road openers under Chris Mooney. Richmond has won 3-straight road games . • Kevin Anderson, the 2010 A-10 Player of Year and AP Honorable Mention pick, is 4th on Richmond's all-time scoring list with 1,809 points, having passed former teammate David Gonzalvez (1,727). Anderson also ranks 3rd in steals (191), having passed Hall of Famer John Davis (182), whose son Trey will join the Spiders next year. Anderson is 5th in field goals (648) and 6th in assists (349). He has been nominated for the Bob Cousy Award, was on the Top-50 lists for the Wooden Award and Naismith Award and is one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. • Senior Justin Harper was the 40th Spider to reach 1,000 career points when he had 20 points and 13 rebounds in the win over Wake Forest. Harper ranks 38th with 1,057 points, needing 2 points to tie Scott Stapleton for 34th, 3 points to tie Jeff Pehl for 33rd and 5 points to tie Bill Flye for 32nd. Harper made 9-of-12 field goals and 4-of-5 three-pointers in Wednesday's win over Charlotte and is shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from three (36-of-68). The 6-10 Harper is averaging 2.25 threes per game. If he was averagingg 2.5 per game he would be 4th on the NCAA's statistical rankings for three-point percentage. • Richmond is shooting 48.3% on the season, which leads the A-10 and is 22nd in the country. The Spiders are 8th in the nation in three-point FG% at 41.5 percent. • Richmond finished 3rd in the A-10 last season (13-3), just a game out of winning the regular season championship and lost to Temple by four points in the A-10 title game. Richmond, Temple and Xavier are the only three A-10 teams to finish in the top-5 in the Atlantic 10 standings in each of the last three seasons.

Quick Hitters
Kevin Anderson has scored in double-figures 99 times in his career...Richmond is 46-16 (.742) in its last 62 games dating back to Feb. 18, 2009...10 of Richmond's 12 wins are by double-figures, including all 6 home wins...Richmond is 22nd in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.40), 24th in turnovers per game (11.4) and 35th in scoring defense (60.4)...Justin Harper has 138 three pointers, needing 3 to move into a tie for 10th on Richmond's all-time career list with Curtis Blair...Kevin Anderson has 134 career threes...Richmond has won 4 of 5 games against BCS conference teams this season, matching the 1985-86 team (Providence, Wake Forest, Stanford, Virginia) for most wins against the Power 6 conferences...the Spiders have won 8 of the last 11 games against teams from a BCS conference...Chris Mooney has 13 wins over BCS conference teams in 7 years as a D-I head coach, including 11 in 6 seasons at Richmond...the Spiders have defeated a team from all 6 BCS conferences (Pac-10, Big 10, ACC, Big East, Big 12 and SEC) in Mooney's tenure, including multiple wins against the ACC, Big East and SEC...Richmond has won 5 of the last 6 games against ranked teams, which is the second-best six-game stretch in the nation behind New Mexico (6-0) and Duke (6-0)...Kevin Anderson, who had 28 points in the win over Purdue, is averaging 25.4 ppg in the last 5 wins against ranked teams, including 28.0 ppg in the last 3 wins...Richmond's only loss to a ranked team in its last 6 tries was by four points to No. 17 Temple in the 2010 A-10 title game...since March 2009 Richmond has wins over #24 Xavier, #17 Temple (2/6/10), #13 Florida, #17 Xavier and #8 Purdue...Richmond has won 6 of its last 9 vs. ranked teams in the last 4 seasons...Richmond handled then No. 8 ranked Purdue 65-54 on Nov. 27 to win the Chicago Invitational, the Spiders' 2nd-straight in-season tournament title...Richmond won the South Padre Invitational last year with wins over Mississippi St. and Missouri...Richmond is 2-1 in neutral court games this season and was 5-2 on neutral court games last season with wins over No. 13 ranked Florida, No. 24 ranked Xavier, Missouri, Mississipi State and UMass...Richmond has held teams to 20 points or less in a half 5 times in 16 games...the Spiders held Southern to 9 first-half points on Nov. 23, the fewest points allowed in a half by a Richmond team since the Spiders held Virginia to single-digit points in a half of a 25-17 win in Charlotesville on Jan. 10, 1942...Richmond held Purdue to 14 first-half points 4 days later...Richmond broke into the Top-25 on Feb. 15, 2010 for the first time in 24 years and was ranked again on Feb. 22, the first time the Spiders were ranked in back-to-back weeks in 52 years...prior to last season, the Spiders had been ranked for 1 week (Jan. 30, 1986) since the 1957-58 season and just 6 weeks in school history...the Spiders finished the year ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll and received votes every week this season until the last 2 weeks...Richmond has won 24 of its last 26 home games...the Spiders finished 14-1 at home last season, the 3rd highest home win total in school history and best home winning percentage when playing more than 9 homes games in school history...the Spiders have set the school record for steals in each of the last 2 seasons with 262 in 2008-09 and 289 last season...Richmond set the school record for blocks last season with 158...last season was Richmond's 17th 20-win season, including its 2nd straight...Richmond received plenty of national publicity last season, 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 and were featured in the New York Times on March 7...Richmond has the best A-10 road record in each of the last 2 seasons and have the best combined A-10 conference road record over the past 2 seasons at 11-5, having won 9 of their last 11 A-10 road games.

KA For Naismith, Wooden, Cousy, Lowe's
Richmond senior point guard Kevin Anderson was named to the Naismith Trophy Men's Collegiate Player of the Year Preseason List, the Wooden Award Preseason Top-50 List, was nominated for the Bob Cousy Award for the nation's best point guard and is one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. To be selected as a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, the student-athlete must have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Off the court the 2010 A-10 Player of the Year is a Business major with a concentration in Marketing in Richmond's undergraduate Business School which ranked No. 12 in the nation last year, including No. 1 for academic quality according to Business Week. He is also heavily involved in the community with his teammates, including being involved with CARITAS, The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, The Special Olympics, The Arthritas Foundation and St. Joseph's Villa. Anderson is looking to become just the 6th A-10 player to repeat as Player of Year and is just the 5th A-10 Player to win both the conference's Rookie of the Year Award and Player of Year Award, joining Jameer Nelson (St. Joe's), Marcus Camby (UMass), Mark Macon (Temple) and Kenny Green (URI). He would be the first to win Rookie of Year and the Player of the Year twice.

Harp On It
A sportswriter passed on that when doing a preview for one of the summer preseason publications in 2009, 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 in 2008-09 with a Los Angeles Lakers scout in the Robins Center, earning him Atlantic10 Player of the Week honors. He has scored in double-figures in 18 of his last 22 games, including 10 of 12 games this season. He had 20 points and 13 rebounds against Wake Forest, 23 against Arizona State and a much more dominate than the stat line shows 14-point, 8-rebound performance against Purdue All-American JaJuan Johnson. An NBA scout told the coaching staff Harper could be a 1st round pick and he is showing why. Harper is shooting 56.3 percent from the field (99-176) and 52.9 percent from three (36-68), along with averaging 6.1 rebounds through the first 16 games.

Bulking Up and Bouncing Higher
The Spiders spent another quality offseason getting bigger, faster and stronger in the weight room with strength & conditioning coach Jay DeMayo and the results speak for themsevles. Four players can bench 300 pounds led by senior Justin Harper (330) and freshman Derrick Williams (330). Junior Darrius Garrett may look a bit skinny, but he put up 305 pounds, while sophomore Darien Brothers hit 300. Six players can jump 40 inches in the two-step vertical led by Brothers, senior Kevin Anderson and freshman Cedrick Lindsay at 42 inches. Senior Kevin Smith and shot-blocking sensation Darrius Garrett lifted 41 1/2 inches off the ground and junior Francis-Cedrick Martel, who had Bill Raftery and Verne Lundquist jumping out of their seats with his sky-high rebound in the Atlantic 10 title game, jumped 40 inches.

Stealing The Show
Kevin Anderson has moved into 3rd on Richmond's all-time steals list, having passed Hall of Famer John Davis and Anderson's former teammates David Gonzalvez and Ryan Butler. Even with losing Gonzalvez and Butler to graduation, the Spiders are still averaging 6.6 steals per game this season.

The Future Looks Bright
Richmond head coach Chris Mooney announced the signing of four highly touted seniors to National Letters of Intent on signing day. Kendall Anthony (Jackson, Tenn.), Trey Davis (Richmond, Va.), Alonzo Nelson-Ododa (Atlanta, Ga.) and Luke Piotrowski (Atlantic City, N.J.) will be freshman next season. Kendall Anthony is a 5-9 point guard from Liberty Technology Magnet School who scored 39 in game last week, Trey Davis is a 6-foot-4 guard/forward from Benedictine High who is the son of Spider Hall of Famer John Davis (1982-86). Alonzo Nelson-Ododa is a 6-8 forward from Norcross High who chose the Spiders over NC State and Cal. The 6-11 Luke Piotrowski, the son of a former NBA player, chose Richmond over Arizona St., Maryland, and Oregon St.

KA, Geriot, Harp Climbing Scoring List
Kevin Anderson is fourth on Richmond's all-time scoring list (1,809), needing 34 points to tie Ed Harrison for 3rd. Dan Geriot is tied for 24th (1,167) and Justin Harper is 35th (1.057).

Outreach
The Spiders have three players with wingspans over 7-feet, and two more with wingspans over 6-foot-10. Darrius Garrett has a 7-foot-2 wingspan, Derrick Williams is 6-foot-6 but has a 7-foot-1 wingspan and Justin Harper has a 7-foot wingspan. Francis-Cedric Martel is 6-foot-6 but has a 6-foot-11 wingspan and Greg Robbins is 6-foot-5 but has a 6-foot-10 wingspan.

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. The Spiders finished the year allowing 57.8 points per game, which ranked seventh in the country. Richmond has not allowed over 68.2 points per game in a season during Mooney's tenure, including holding teams to 62.7 ppg last season and 60.4 points per game so far this season. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 24 times in 178 games under Mooney, including 3 times this season, and have held teams to 60 points or less 79 times, including 17 times last season and 8 of 16 games this season. Richmond has allowed over 70 points in regulation just 41 times in Mooney's 6 seasons and has allowed 80 or more points in regulation just 13 times. The Spiders held The Citadel to just 37 points in the 2010-11 season opener, held Southern to 40, including nine in the first half last Tuesday and William & Mary to 49. Richmond held No. 8 ranked Purdue to just 14 first-half points and 30.2 percent shooting. The Spiders are holding opponents to 39.7 percent shooting, including 29.6 percent from behind the arc.

Block Party
Last year the Spiders set the school record for blocks in a season with 158 thanks to Tim Faulconer (1.58).

Passing His Way Up The Charts
Kevin Anderson is climbing Richmond's all-time list for assists, currently ranking 6th with 349.

A New Spider
The Spiders adopted a 14-year-old brain tumor survivor as part of the team through the Friends of Jacyln Foundation last season. Nathan Mwenda, who is originally from Zambia, has been living in Richmond for 6 years. He attends games and practices, exchanges text messages with the players and has joined the players on the court for introductions and the National Anthem.

Back-To-Back 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. This year the Spiders won the Chicago Invitational Challenge, defeating No. 8 Purdue in the title game. Kevin Anderson was named MVP of both tournaments. The Spiders are 8-0 in regular-season tournament play over the past 2 seasons. Richmond also defeated No. 13 ranked Florida in last year's Orange Bowl Classic and defeated VCU in this year's Farm Bureau Insurance Black & Blue Classic.

The Young And The Restless
Richmond coach Chris Mooney got his first Division I head coaching job at the age of 32, which made him the fourth-youngest coach in the nation at the time. Even with his youth, don't look for any grizzled veterans on the 38-year-old Mooney's staff. Associate head coach Kevin McGeehan is 37, assistant Jamal Brunt is 30 and coach Rob Jones is 32. Directors of basketball operations Marcus Jenkins and Peter Thomas are 28 and 26, respectively.

The Wedding Planner
Richmond head coach Chris Mooney started his collegiate coaching career as a part time head coach at Beaver College (now Arcadia College) in 1997. Mooney's full time job was as the school's coordinator of events and as part of that job he had to book weddings at a castle that was on the Glenside, Pa. campus. He showed the castle to newly engated couples and helped them to decide where the band should play and how tables should be arranged. "I was 25 years old and I'd never even had people over to dinner," Mooney says. "And here I am helping brides prepare for weddings." With no team managers, Mooney washed the uniforms, swept the court and filled water coolers. The team had just six players on the roster during most of Mooney's first season, so when the captains met with the referees before games, the other players had to stop warm-ups and wait. Richmond associate head coach Kevin McGeehan was Mooney's part-time assistant at Beaver College and his full-time job was stuffing envelopes in a cramped office in the basement of the castle.

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