Spiders Look To Continue Success Against Ranked Teams Thursday At No. 23 Temple

Feb. 16, 2011

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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Richmond looks to keep its recent success against ranked teams going Thursday night when the Spiders play at No. 23 ranked Temple at 7 p.m. in a game televised nationally on the CBS College Sports Network.

The Spider (20-6, 9-2 Atlantic 10) and Owls (19-5, 9-2 Atlantic 10) will be playing for sole possession of second place in the Atlantic 10 standings, with the winner moving just a half game behind league-leading Temple.

The Latest
• The Spiders have the 2nd longest road winning streak in the nation at 8-straight road victories. Coastal Carolina has a 9-game road winning streak and Murray State entered Wednesday's game at Southeast Missouri State with an 8-game road winnings streak. The Spiders have had the best A-10 road record in 2008-09 and 2009-10 and have the best combined A-10 road record since 2008-09 at 16-5, with a 14-2 record in the last 16 A-10 road games. The Spiders are 10-3 away from home, including 5-0 in A-10 play.
• The Spiders are 5-1 in their last 6 games against ranked teams, the 2nd best 6-game stretch against ranked teams behind Duke (6-0). The Spiders only loss against a ranked team since Dec. of 2008 is the A-10 title game loss to No. 17 Temple last March. Richmond has won 6 of the last 9 vs. ranked teams, and that includes a 71-54 victory over No. 17 ranked Temple last February in the Robins Center.
• Richmond has an identical record (20-6, 9-2 Atlantic 10) as it did through 26 games last season and has defeated 5 teams in the top-106 of the RPI. The Spiders, who are 10-1 in February over the last 2 seasons, are the first Atlantic 10 team to 20 wins. This is Richmond's 3rd-straight 20-win season and 18th all-time.
• The Spiders are tied with Temple for 2nd in the Atlantic 10, one game behind Xavier. Richmond, Temple and Xavier are top-3 in the A-10 in conference wins over the past 4 seasons. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Xavier has 49 A-10 wins, Temple has 45 and Richmond has 40. Rhode Island has 34 and Dayton has 32. Richmond, Temple and Xavier are the only 3 A-10 teams to finish in the top-5 in the standings in each of the last 3 seasons.
• Richmond is shooting an A-10-leading 47.7 percent, which ranks 21st in the nation and an A-10-leading 41.1 percent from 3, which ranks 7th in the nation. The Spiders also lead the A-10 in FG% defense (40.2), which is 38th in the nation. Richmond is 2nd in the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense (62.1), behind only Temple.
• For the 3rd-straight year, the Spiders currently claim the Atlantic 10's top scoring duo. For the past 2 seasons it was Kevin Anderson, the 2010 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, and David Gonzalvez and this season Justin Harper (18.0 ppg) and Anderson (15.8 ppg) are in the league's top-10. The Spiders have three 1,000-point scorers at the same time for just the 5th time, including the second-straight season. Anderson (3rd/1,962), Dan Geriot (19th/1,301) and Harper (21st/1,263) are all in the top-21 on Richmond's all-time scoring list. Harper needs just 16 points to move into 20th.
• A-10 Player of the Week Justin Harper is averaging 21.2 ppg in conference play.

Quick Hitters
16 of Richmond's 20 victories are by double-figures, including 7 of the 9 A-10 wins...all but one of Richmond's wins is by at least 8 points...the Spiders are 24-5 in their last 29 Atlantic 10 games...Richmond is 54-18 (.750) in its last 71 games dating back to Feb. 18, 2009... Richmond's 1991 senior class won the most career games (91), but this year's class is closing in with 82 wins...Dan Geriot has made 13-of-24 threes (.542) in the last 7 games and is averaging 15.6 ppg in the last 7 games, scoring in double-figures in all 7...the Spiders are 15th in the nation in turnovers (11.0) and 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.43)...the Spiders are 10-3 at home this season and are 27-4 in the last 31 home games...Richmond has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 11 games this season, including 9 of 13 home games...the Spiders have made at least 5 threes in all 26 games...Darrius Garrett's dunk at Dayton was a Top-10 Play on ESPN's SportsCenter, peaking at No. 3...Jay Bilas named Justin Harper his Game Changer during Jan. 22nd's episode of ESPN's College Gameday, drawing boos from the Purdue fans on the live set...Harper has been named to SI.com's list of top-15 seniors on the draft board and NBCsports.com's list of 12 Most Underrated Players in the country...Kevin Anderson has scored in double-figures 106 times in his career...Kevin Anderson has started 120 career games, the 3rd longest streak in the nation...Kevin Smith's 11 assists vs. GW on Jan. 19 were the most for a Spider since Eugene Burroughs had 11 vs. Wake Forest on Dec. 12, 1992...Richmond has held teams to 20 points or less in a half 5 times this season...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...the Spiders have set the school record for steals in each of the previous 2 seasons...Richmond set the school record for blocks last season with 158...the Spiders have lost by double-figures just 4 times in the last two seasons and just 9 times in the last 3 seasons.

Giant Killers To Giants
Richmond earned a reputation for being Giant Killers with its NCAA Tournament victories, but the Spiders' victories over so-called Giants have become the norm. 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 and 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 SEC) in Mooney's tenure, including multiple wins against the ACC, Big East and SEC. Richmond broke into the Top-25 on Feb. 15, 2010 for the first time in 24 years. Prior to last season, the Spiders had been ranked for 1 week (Jan. 30, 1986) since the 1957-58 season. The Spiders finished the 2009-10 season ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll and have received top-25 votes in 7 of the 13 weeks this season.

Pulling Rank
Richmond has won 5 of the last 6 games against ranked teams, which is the 2nd-best 6-game stretch in the nation behind Duke (6-0). Kevin Anderson, who had 28 points in the win over No. 8 Purdue earlier this season, is averaging 25.4 ppg in the last 5 wins against ranked teams, including 28.0 ppg in the last 3. Richmond's only loss to a ranked team in its last 6 tries was by 4 points to No. 17 Temple in the 2010 A-10 title game. Richmond has won 6 of its last 9 vs. ranked teams, including a 71-54 win over No. 17 Temple last February.

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, is one of 20 finalists 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).

Harp On It
Justin Harper has been called one of the A-10's top-NBA prospects for the past 2 seasons, and an NBA scout told the Spider coaching staff in the fall that he could be a first round pick. Harper is averaging 21.1 ppg in Atlantic 10 play and opened conference play with four-straight 25-point games. He has scored in double-figures in 32 of his last 36 games, including 24 of 26 games this season. He had a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds vs. GW on Jan. 20 and a much more dominate than the stat line shows 14-point, 8-rebound performance against Purdue All-American JaJuan Johnson. Harper was named the Game Changer to watch by Jay Bilas on ESPN's College Gameday Jan. 22, was on SI.com's list of top-15 seniors on the NBA Draft Board and was on NBCsports.com's list of 12 Most Underrated Players in college basketball. Harper is shooting 57.1 percent from the field, 49.6 percent from three on the season and averaging 21.2 ppg in A-10 play.

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. Four players can bench 300 pounds led by Justin Harper (330) and Derrick Williams (330). Darrius Garrett put up 305 pounds and Darien Brothers hit 300. Six players can jump 40 inches in the two-step vertical led by Brothers, Kevin Anderson and Cedrick Lindsay at 42 inches. Kevin Smith and Garrett got 41 1/2 inches and Francis-Cedrick Martel, who hafd Bill Raftery and Verne Lundquist jumping out of their seats with his sky-high rebound in the Atlantic 10 title game, jumped 40 inches.

KA, Geriot, Harp Climbing Scoring List
Kevin Anderson is 3rd on Richmond's all-time scoring list (1,962), Dan Geriot is 19th (1,301) and Justin Harper is 21st (1.263).

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 6.4 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.

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 62.1 points per game so far this season. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 24 times in 188 games under Mooney, including 3 times this season, and have held teams to 60 points or less 83 times, including 17 times last season and 12 games this season. Richmond has allowed over 70 points in regulation just 42 times in Mooney's 6 seasons and has allowed 80 or more points in regulation just 14 times. Richmond has held 7 teams to under 35-percent shooting this season, including No. 8 ranked Purdue to 30.2 percent shooting and 14 first-half points on Nov. 27. The Spiders are holding opponents to 40.2 percent shooting, including 30.6 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, ranking 5th with 382.

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 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.

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