University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Play Kansas In Sweet 16 Friday
03/23/2011 | Men's Basketball
March 23, 2011
Practice Day
Players Press Conference:
Mooney Press Conference:
Mooney On Jim Rome Is Burning
• PRE-GAME: GAME NOTES | PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Richmond will play No. 2 ranked and No. 1 seed Kansas Friday at 7:27 p.m. ET at the Alamodome in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
Richmond (29-7) has won nine-straight games and 13 of the last 14. The Spiders are playing in their second Sweet 16 and the first since 1988.
Kansas has won 10-straight games and is 34-2 on the season. The Jayhawks are 18-8 all-time in the Sweet 16.
The Spiders won the only meeting between Kansas and Richmond, a 69-68 victory on a Tony Dobbins jumper that snapped the Jayhawks' 52-game home winning streak against unranked opponents on Jan. 22, 2004.
THE LATEST
• Richmond advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history with a 65-48 win over Morehead State Saturday in Denver. The Spiders defeated No. 25 ranked Vanderbilt in the NCAA Second Round on Thursday, improving to 7-2 in its last 9 games against ranked teams and 8-4 in the last 12. The Spiders are 9-3 in the last 12 against teams from BCS conferences, including 5-1 this season. Kevin Anderson scored 25 points, including the game-winning floater with 18.7 seconds left against Vanderbilt. Anderson is averaging 26.2 points per game in Richmond's last 5 wins against ranked teams.
• The Spiders are 8-8 all-time in 9 NCAA Tournaments.
• The Spiders have won 9 straight, 13 of the last 14 and 16 of the last 19 and are 18-3 in the last 21. Richmond's 9-game winnings streak is the longest since the 1990-91 season. The Spiders have not had a 10-game winning streak since the 1934-35 season (20-0).
• Richmond is making its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the 9th in school history, all coming in the last 27 years. This is the Spiders 2nd time making back-to-back NCAA appearances (1990-91). This is Richmond's 4th-straight postseason appearance and 18th overall. The Spiders are the only team in NCAA Tournament history to win as a No. 12, 13, 14 and 15 seeds and have the most wins as a No. 12 seed and lower (8) in NCAA Tournament history. Richmond defeated Indiana and Georgia Tech to reach its other Sweet 16 in 1988 (see page 8).
• Richmond won its only meeting with Kansas 69-68 on a Tony Dobbins last-second shot at Phog Allen Field House on Jan. 22, 2004. The Spiders also won the last meeting with VCU, leading by 30 (49-19) in a victory over the Rams on Dec. 11 in the Robins Center.
• Richmond won its 1st Atlantic 10 Championship in 10 years in the league with a 67-54 win over Dayton. Richmond defeated No. 24 ranked Temple in the semifinals. Kevin Anderson was the MVP of the Atlantic 10 Tournament after averaging 22.0 ppg and Harper was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
• Richmond is 17-4 away from home this season, including 7-1 on neutral courts. The Spiders are 3-0 on neutral courts against nationally-ranked teams this season with wins over No. 8 Purdue, No. 24 Temple and No. 25 Vanderbilt.
• Richmond's Justin Harper and Kevin Anderson earned 1st-Team All-Atlantic 10 honors, the 1st A-10 teammates to do so since 2006-07. This was Anderson's 2nd-straight season on the All A-10 1st-Team and his 3rd-straight season earning All-Conference honors. Senior catalyst Kevin Smith was named to the A-10 All-Defensive Team.
• The Spiders have the most wins over the last 2 seasons (55) and 3 seasons (75) and 4 seasons (91) as in any other 2, 3 or 4 year spans in 99 seasons of Richmond basketball. Richmond has won a school record 29 games, passing the previous mark of 26 shared by last season's team and the 1987-88 team.
Quick Hitters
2010 A-10 Player of the Year and 2011 A-10 Tournament MVP Kevin Anderson ranks in the top-5 on UR's all-time career list in 5 categories...KA is 2nd in scoring (2,152 points), 4th in assists (407), 3rd in steals (215), 3rd in FGs made (760) and 1st in minutes (36.2 mpg)...KA is 6th on the school's list in 3s (175), 2 behind teammate Justin Harper (177)...the Spiders have 3 players with 100 assists this season, Kevin Anderson (119), Kevin Smith (114) and Dan Geriot (100)...the Spiders have 3 1,000-point scorers at the same time for just the 5th time, including the 2nd-straight season...KA (2nd/2,152), Harper (12th/1,435) and Dan Geriot (16th/1,386) are in the top-20...Richmond leads the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage (.463) and three-point field goal percentage (.403), which ranks 8th in the nation...the Spiders lead the A-10 and are 9th in the nation in turnovers per game (10.3) and are 9th in the nation in A/TO ratio (1.5)... Richmond leads the A-10 and is 18th in the nation in scoring defense (60.8)...Richmond leads the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage defense (.404) and three-point field goal percentage (30.1), which ranks 11th in the nation...Richmond is 15-2 in tournament play over the last 2 seasons...the Spiders have won 9-straight since spending a practice playing touch football on Feb. 18...the Spiders are 7-1 in neutral court games this year and 11-3 in neutral court games over the last 2 years...the Spiders have held 7 of their last 8 opponents under 60 points and 10 of the last 14 opponents to 60 points or less...the Spiders were 12-2 in February over the past two seasons...23 of Richmond's 29 victories are by double-figures...all but 3 of Richmond's wins are by at least 8 points...the Spiders are 28-6 in their last 33 Atlantic 10 regular season games...Richmond is 62-19 (.763) in last 81 games...the Spiders have made at least 5 threes in all but 2 games this season...Kevin Anderson has started 130 career games, the longest active streak in the nation.
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 has won 5 of 6 games against BCS conference teams this season, the most in school history. The Spiders have won 9 of the last 12 games against teams from a BCS conference and Chris Mooney has 14 wins over BCS conference teams in 7 years as a D-I head coach, including 12 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 (2), Big East (2) and SEC (3). Richmond broke into the Top-25 on Feb. 15, 2010 for the first time in 24 years. The Spiders finished the 2009-10 season ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll last year and just 5 spots out of the top-25 this season.
Pulling Rank
Richmond is 7-2 in the last 9 games against ranked teams, including 3-1 this season. Kevin Anderson, who this season had 28 points in the win over No. 8 Purdue, 25 in the NCAA Tournament win over No. 25 Vanderbilt and 22 in the A-10 semifinal win over No. 24 Temple, is averaging 26.2 ppg in the last 5 wins against ranked teams. Richmond has won 8 of its last 12 games against ranked teams since 2008.
Road Warriors
Richmond had a 10-3 road record, 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) and in the top-10 in the nation in road wins this season. 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. Richmond is 17-4 away from the Robins Center this season.
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 last 4 seasons (2008-11).
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 was 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 was named 1st-Team All-Atlantic 10 for the 2nd-straight year, after earning 2nd-Team All-Atlantic 10 as a sophomore. He was MVP of the 2011 A-10 Tournament.
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. Now it appears a lot of experts and scouts think Harper will go in the first round in this June's NBA Draft. The First-Team All-Atlantic 10 selection is leading the Spiders in scoring (17.8) and rebounding (6.9) and averaged 20.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg in Atlantic 10 play. He opened conference play with four-straight 25-point games and kept putting up impressive numbers with his array of post moves, turnaround jumpers and smooth three-point stroke for a 6-foot-10 forward. He has scored in double-figures in 42 of his last 46 games and has 12 20-point games in the last 24 contests. 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 39th in the nation in shooting percentage (53.5%) and is 2nd in the A-10 in three-point percentage (45.2%).
KA, Geriot, Harp Climbing Scoring List
Kevin Anderson moved into 2nd on Richmond's all-time scoring list (2,152) with 14 points against Morehead State. Justin Harper is 14th (1,435) and Dan Geriot is 17th (1,386).
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.
Block Party
Darrius Garret, who blocked 5 shots in the win over Vanderibilt on Thursday has 59 blocks this season, which ranks 6th on Richmond's single-season list, 1 blocks behind his own mark of 60 last season. Garrett blocked an A-10 and school record 14 last season against UMass, the second most shots blocked in college basketball history. Garrett currently has the 2nd-highest blocks per game average (1.49) in school history, behind Tim Faulconer (1.58). Harper is 10th on UR's single-season list with 47 blocks this season. Garrett is 7th on the career list and Harper is 8th.
Passing His Way Up The Charts
Kevin Anderson is 4th on Richmond's career list for assists (407).
Three Climbing
Justin Harper and Kevin Anderson are climbing Richmond's all-time career list for three-pointers. Chris Mooney has recruited and coached 4 of the top 7 on Richmond's career list.
Bulking Up and Bouncing Higher
Thanks to strength & conditioning coach Jay DeMayo, the Spiders have four players who 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 jumped 40 inches.
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 60.8 points per game this season. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 25 times in 198 games under Mooney, including 5 times this season, and have held teams to 60 points or less 90 times, including 18 times this season and 17 times last season. The Spiders have held 7 of the last 8 opponents under 60 points and 10 of the last 14 opponents to 60 points or less. Richmond has allowed over 70 points in regulation just 43 times in Mooney's 6 seasons and has allowed 80 or more points in regulation just 14 times. Richmond has held 8 teams to under 35-percent shooting this season, including then No. 8 ranked Purdue to 30.2 percent shooting and 14 first-half points on Nov. 27. The Spiders are holding opponents to 40.3 percent shooting, including 30.1 percent from behind the arc.
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.
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 and exchanges text messages with the players.
The Champs Are Here
The Spiders have now won three tournaments in the last two seasons and Kevin Anderson has been named the MVP of all three tournaments. 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 8-0 in regular-season tournament play over the past 2 seasons and 15-2 in tournament play counting the NCAA game last March. Richmond also defeated No. 13 ranked Florida in last year's Orange Bowl Classic and led by 30 in a win over 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.
