Spiders Host Iona In Wednesday Matinee At 3 P.M.
12/13/2011 | Men's Basketball
The game is being played at 3 p.m. so Iona can get back to New York for exams. The Spiders finish their exams on Tuesday.
The game can be watched live on SpiderTV at RichmondSpiders.com with a subscription fee. Listen to the radio broadcast at RichmondSpiders.com, on ESPN Radio 950AM or on Sirius Satellite Radio Ch. 92.
Iona is a veteran team led by seniors Mike Glover and Scott Machado. Glover leads the team in scoring (19.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg). Machado is second on the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) and leads the entire country in assists at 10.4 per game. Iona has scored over 80 points in all but two of their games and is averaging 87.4 points per game. The Gaels are 3-1 on the road.
THE LATEST
• Richmond returns home after playing five-straight games away from home. The Spiders went 3-2 in that stretch including wins over Rutgers of the Big East and Wake Forest of the ACC. The Spiders are now 11-5 in the last 16 games against BCS Conference teams, including 7-3 in the last two seasons.
• The Spiders are 16-1 vs. non-conference opponents in the Robins Center since the start of the 2009-10 season and 24-3 in the last 27 non-conference home games dating back to the 2007-08 season. The Spiders are 31-4 in the last 35 games in the Robins Center.
• Sophomore Cedrick Lindsay scored a career-high 22 points against VCU on Friday. In the last 3 games Lindsay is averaging 16.7 points, while shooting 77.3 percent (17-22), including 5-10 from behind the arc.
• Freshman Kendall Anthony won 3 of the first 4 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week awards and is leading the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game. Anthony is shooting 40.4 percent from three (19-of-47).
• Senior Darrius Garrett is second on Richmond's all-time blocks list with 157. He needs 27 blocks to pass Tim Faulconer (183) for the school record. Garrett ranks 7th in the nation in blocks per game (3.7 bpg) and the Spiders rank 24th in the nation (5.8 bpg)
• Richmond is tied for the 12th most victories in college basketball over the last 3 seasons with 61 victories since the start of the 2009-10 season.
• With more athleticism and strength in the lineup, Richmond expected to get to the foul line a lot more this year and the Spiders are doing just that, having taken 211 free throws through 9 games, for an average of 23.4 free throws per game. Last year the Spiders averaged 17.2 free throw attempts per game. Richmond is connecting on 74.9 percent of its free throws this season, which ranks 24th in the nation. It is impossible to defend a free throw, but the Spiders rank 343rd out of 350 in field goal percentage defense with opponents shooting 80.2 percent from the line.
• The Spiders are fourth in the Atlantic 10 and are 32nd in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.374) and are 5th in the A-10 in 3FG Defense (.308).
• The Spiders graduated the winningest class in school history and a total of over 5,000 career points with the departure of four starters. But this year's senior class needs just 10 wins to equal last year's seniors as the winningest class in school history.
Quick Hitters
While Iona has scored over 80 points in 7 of 9 games this season, the Spiders have allowed 80 points in regulation just 14 times in 207 games under Chris Mooney...the Spiders have led from start to finish in its last 5 victories...Richmond is 67-23 (.744) in last 90 games...Richmond has held its last 6 opponents to a combined 24-of-90 3FG (.267)...the Spiders have held 19 of the last 28 opponents to 62 points or less, including 6 of the 9 opponents this season...the Spiders are 16-1 vs. non-conference opponents in the Robins Center over the last three season...Richmond is 24-3 in the last 27 non-conference home games dating back to the 2007-08 season...Richmond is 31-4 in its last 35 home games....Justin Harper, the 31st pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, signed a two-year contract with the Orlando Magic...the Spiders current senior class needs 11 victories to pass last year's senior class as the winningest in school history...the Spiders are 28-6 in their last 34 Atlantic 10 regular-season games.
Easy As A (Anthony)-B (Brothers)-C (Ced)
Richmond has boasted one of the best backcourts in the Atlantic 10 over the last few years, but even after graduating two of the top-6 scorers in school history (Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez) over the last two years, it looks like Richmond might have its deepest backcourt yet under Chris Mooney. Sophomore Cedrick Lindsay starts at point guard and is averaging 11.5 points and 4.4 assists after playing a key role in Richmond's run to the A-10 Championship and NCAA Sweet 16 last March. Junior Darien Brothers is the only returning starter and is averaging 10.5 points per game while shooting 48.6 percent from 3 (17-35). Freshman Kendall Anthony has quickly established himself as a high-level scorer off the bench. The runner-up for Mr. Basketball in Tennessee last year, Anthony leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and has won three of the first four A-10 Rookie of the Week awards.
Giant Killers To Giants
Richmond earned a reputation for being Giant Killers with its NCAA Tournament victories in the 1980s and 90s, but the Spiders' victories over so-called Giants have become the norm. Richmond won 5 of 7 games against BCS conference teams last season, the most in school history. The Spiders are 11-5 in their last 16 games against BCS conference teams, including 1-1 this season and Chris Mooney has 16 wins over BCS conference teams in 8 years as a D-I head coach, including 14 in 7 seasons at Richmond. The Spiders have defeated a team from all 6 BCS conferences in Mooney's tenure, including multiple wins against the Big East (5), SEC (3) and ACC (3). Many of these recent BCS wins have not been upsets, the Spiders finished the 2009-10 season ranked No. 24 in the nation and finished last season ranked No. 21.
Road Warriors
Richmond had a 10-3 road record last season, tying the 1952-53 and 1985-86 teams for the second most road wins in a season in school history, one win behind the 1934-35 team (11-0). The Spiders were in the top-10 in the nation in road wins last season and finished 17-5 away from the Robins Center. The Spiders went 7-1 on the road in A-10 play, clinching the best A-10 road record for the 3rd-straight year. Richmond has a 16-3 record in the last 19 A-10 road games.
Pulling Rank
Richmond is 7-3 in the last 10 games against ranked teams. Richmond has won 8 of its last 13 games against ranked teams since 2008.
4-Year Run Atop The A-10
Chris Mooney has been the head coach at Richmond for six years and after a quick rebuilding job Mooney has had the Spiders in the top-3 in the league in wins over the last 4 years (2007-08 through 2010-11). Xavier has 55 wins, Temple has 50, Richmond has 44, Rhode Island has 36 and Dayton has 34. Richmond, Temple and Xavier are the only 3 A-10 teams to finish in the top-5 in the standings the previous 4 seasons (2008-11).
Bulking Up and Bouncing Higher
Thanks to strength & conditioning coach Jay DeMayo, the Spiders have three players who can bench 300 pounds led by Derrick Williams (330). Darrius Garrett put up 305 pounds and Darien Brothers hit 300. Nine players can jump 40 inches in the two-step vertical led by Brothers, Cedrick Lindsay, Garrett, Derick Williams, Francis-Cedric Martel, Jonathan Benjamin, Trey Davis and Alonzo Nelson-Ododa. Freshman Kendall Anthony just missed the cut at 38 inches.
Block Party
Darrius Garret, who blocked a game-changing 5 shots in the NCAA Tournament win over Vanderibilt last March, has the fifth and sixth best single-season shot blocking totals in Richmond history. Garrett blocked an A-10 and school record 14 in a single-game against UMass, the second most shots blocked in college basketball history. Garrett currently has the highest blocks per game average (1.69) in school history, ahead of Tim Faulconer (1.58). Garrett is 2nd on Richmond's career list for blocks with 157, needing 27 blocks to break the school record held by Faulconer (183). Like a streaky shooter, Garrett tends to get his blocks in bunches.
Career Blocks
Rank Name Years Blocks
1. Tim Faulconer 1998-02 183
2. Darrius Garrett 2008-pres. 157
3. Kevin Steenberge 2002-06 154
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 more than 68.2 points per game in a season during Mooney's tenure, including holding teams to 62.7 ppg in 2009-10 and 62.0 points per game last season. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 25 times in 207 games under Mooney, including 5 times last season, and have held teams to 60 points or less 94 times, including four of the seven games this season. The Spiders have held 19 of the last 28 opponents to 62 points or less. Richmond has allowed more than 70 points in regulation just 47 times in Mooney's 7 seasons and has allowed 80 or more points in regulation just 14 times. Richmond is holding the opposition 37.6 percent shooting this season, which ranks 32nd in the nation, and limiting teams to 30.8 percent shooting from behind the arc.
The Champs Are Here
The Spiders have won three tournaments in the last three seasons. Richmond won won the 2011 Atlantic 10 Tournament, the 2010 Chicago Invitational Challenge in November, defeating No. 8 Purdue in the title game, and 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. The Spiders are 11-1 in regular-season tournament play over the past 3 seasons and 17-4 in tournament play, including the last two NCAA Tournaments. Richmond also defeated No. 13 ranked Florida in the 2009 Orange Bowl Classic and led by 30 in a win over VCU in last year's Farm Bureau Insurance Black & Blue Classic.
Outreach
The Spiders have two 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. 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.
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 engaged 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.
Spiders' Web Reaching NBA
Justin Harper is not the only Spider in the NBA. Three former Richmond standouts are working the sidelines in the NBA. Kevin Eastman is an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics, earning a ring with the 2008 World Champions. Standout guard Ken Atkinson, a member of the 1988 Sweet 16 team, is in his fourth year as an assistant coach for Mike D'Antoni and the New York Knicks. Former guard Curtis Blair, who scored 18 points in the 1991 NCAA Tournament win over Syracuse, is in his third year as a referee in the NBA.
Spiders Sign 2
Richmond signed two high school seniors to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday. Terry Allen, a 6-foot-8 forward from Houston can shoot and is very skilled for his size. He averaged 21.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game as a junior as he led his team to a school-record 22 wins. Deion Taylor, a 6-foot-6 forward from St. Augustine High in New Orleans is an athletic swingman who averaged 11.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in helping lead his team to the Louisiana 5A State Championship.
A Honorary 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 7 years. He attends games and practices and exchanges text messages with the players.
