University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Host UMass Saturday At 5 P.M. On National TV
01/20/2012 | Men's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond returns home to host UMass on Saturday at 5 p.m. in a game televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
UMass is 14-5 overall and 3-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Spiders have won the last three meetings with the Minutmen and are 4-1 vs. UMass in the Robins Center.
THE LATEST• The defending Atlantic 10 Champion Spiders had to play without starting point guard Cedrick Lindsay on Wednesday and Richmond was unable to keep the momentum going from its convincing wins over Rhode Island and Temple. As a young and inexperienced team, the Spiders have been inconsistent on the road this season, but Richmond returns to the Robins Center where it owns a 7-1 record on the year. Richmond is 36-5 in its last 41 home games.
• Richmond finished the last two seasons 13-3 in A-10 play and is 35-8 in the last 43 games against A-10 teams, including a 5-1 record in A-10 Tournament play over the last two years. The Spiders are 30-8 in the last 38 A-10 regular season games.
• The Spiders lead the series with UMass 8-4, having won the last three meetings. The Spiders are 4-1 against the Minutemen in Richmond.
• Sophomore strongman Derrick Williams has had some big games in his young career, but none compared to last Saturday's monster 18-point, 13-rebound performance in the victory over the Owls. Despite foul trouble at George Washington, he posted his second-straight double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• Senior Darrius Garrett set Richmond's career record for blocked shots on Dec. 30 against UNC-Greensboro, and currently has 195 blocks. Garrett, who blocked the 2nd most shots in NCAA Division I game (14) in 2010 against UMass, is 5th in the nation in blocks per game (3.7 bpg). Garrett has 71 blocks this season, which is tied with Kevin Steenberge's 2005-06 season as 3rd on the school's single-season list, and 2 blocks to tie Tim Faulconer for 2nd. He needs 6 blocks to tie Jonathan Collins for the school's single-season record. Garrett also ranks 6th on the single-season list with his 60 blocks in 2009-10 and 7th with his 59 blocks last season.
• Junior Darien Brothers has scored in double-figures in the last 9 games, averaging 20.7 points per game in that span. He leads the Spiders in scoring at 14.9 points per game, shooting 45.5 percent from the field. Brothers ranks 5th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 47.2 percent.
• 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 422 free throws through 19 games for an average of 22.2 free throws per game. Richmond is shooting 75.1 percent from the foul line.
• The Spiders lost four starters and 5,737 career points to graduation last spring after winning 55 games, making back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, reaching the 2011 Sweet 16, winning the 2011 A-10 Championship and finishing the last two seasons ranked in the Top-25.
