University of Richmond Athletics
Defending Champs Open A-10 Play At Charlotte
01/03/2012 | Men's Basketball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The defending Atlantic 10 Champion Spiders open conference play Wednesday at Charlotte at 7:30 p.m.
Richmond enters conference play with a 9-6 record, while Charlotte is 7-5. The Spiders have won seven of the last eight meetings with the 49ers, including the last four at Halton Arena.
The Latest
- The defending Atlantic 10 Champion Spiders open their 11th season of Atlantic 10 conference play at Charlotte Wednesday., marking the second-straight season the Spiders have opened conference play against the 49ers. The Spiders are 7-3 in Atlantic 10 openers and are 6-0 in their first conference road game under Chris Mooney. Richmond has won 7 of the last 8 meetings with Charlotte, including the last 4 meetings in Halton Arena.
- Richmond finished the last two seasons 13-3 in A-10 play and is 33-7 in the last 40 games against A-10 teams, including a 5-1 record in A-10 Tournament play over the last two years.
- Richmond finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with 9 wins, the third most non-conference wins for the Spiders since the 1989-90 season. Richmond finished non-conference play 11-4 in each of the last 2 years, but had not had more than 8 wins against the non-conference portion of their schedule since the 1989-90 season. Richmond 2008-09 team - when last year's senior class were sophomores - finished non-conference play 8-6.
- Senior Darrius Garrett set Richmond's career record for blocked shots Friday against UNC-Greensboro, swatting 6 shots to give him 184 for his career. 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 (4.00 bpg). Garrett has 60 blocks this season, which ties himself for 5th on the school's single-season list. Garrett also ranks 6th on the single-season list with his 59 blocks last season.
- Junior Darien Brothers, the only returning starter off last year's Top-25 and Sweet 16 team, has scored in double-figures in the last 5 games, averaging 23.6 points per game in that span. He scored a career-high 38 points in the win over Old Dominion on Dec. 20 and leads the Spiders in scoring at 14.3 points per game. He is shooting 48.6 percent from the field, including 51.9 percent from behind the arc this 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 341 free throws through 15 games, for an average of 22.7 free throws per game.
- The Spiders lost four starters and 5,000 career points to graduation last spring after winning 55 game, 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.
Quick Hitters
It is impossible to defend a free throw, but the Spiders rank 343rd out of 350 teams in free throw percentage defense with opponents shooting 77.9 percent from the line...this year's senior class needs just 7 more wins to equal last year's seniors as the winningest class in school history with 91 wins...the Spiders have led from start to finish in 5 of its 9 victories this season...Richmond is 70-26 (.729) in last 96 games...the Spiders are 19-2 vs. non-conference opponents in the Robins Center over the last three seasons...Richmond is 27-4 in the last 31 non-conference home games dating back to the 2007-08 season...Richmond is 34-5 in its last 39 home 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 with three guards averaging double-figures in scoring. Junior Darien Brothers is the only returning starter and leads the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game, shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 51.9 percent from 3 (40-77).Sophomore Cedrick Lindsay is second on the team at 13.3 points per game after playing a key role in Richmond's run to the A-10 Championship and NCAA Sweet 16 last March. Freshman Kendall Anthony has quickly established himself as a scorer off the bench. The runner-up for Mr. Basketball in Tennessee last year, Anthony is averaging 12.8 points per game and has won three A-10 Rookie of the Week awards.
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). Richmond is 28-6 in its last 34 Atlantic 10 regular-season games and 33-7 in its last 40 games vs. A-10 teams. The Spiders have played in the last 2 A-10 title games, winning the championship last March.
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.
Block Party
Darrius Garret, who blocked a game-changing 5 shots in the NCAA Tournament win over Vanderibilt last March, swatted an A-10 and school record 14 in a single-game against UMass, the second most shots blocked in college basketball history. Garrett has the highest blocks per game average (1.86) in school history and just set the school career record for blocks with 184. Garrett has 60 blocks which ties his 2009-10 performance for 5th on the school's single-season list. He also holds the next spot on that list with his 59 blocks last season. Like a streaky shooter, Garrett tends to get his blocks in bunches.
Career Blocks
Rank Name Years Blocks
1. Darrius Garrett 2008-pres. 184
2. Tim Faulconer 1998-02 183
3. Kevin Steenberge 2002-06 154
Single-Season Blocks
Rank Name Year Blocks
1. Johnathan Collins 2001-02 77
2. Tim Faulconer 1999-00 73
3. Kevin Steenberge 2005-06 71
4. Tim Faulconer 2000-01 65
5. Darrius Garrett 2009-10 60
5. Darrius Garrett 2011-12 60
7. Darrius Garrett 2010-11 59
8. Jeff Pehl 1981-82 56
