University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Basketball GameDay - No. 22 West Virginia
11/24/2015 | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS - Richmond travels out to Las Vegas this week for the two marquee games of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. The Spiders will start on Thursday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m. ET against No. 22 West Virginia. That game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
Depending on Thursday's results, the Spiders will then play either No. 12 California or San Diego State.
The Spiders are off to their best offensive start under coach Chris Mooney, and third-best offensive start in program history, averaging 90.8 points per game through four games.
Richmond has had tremendous success in early-season neutral site tournament games under Chris Mooney. The Spiders are 10-3 in such games since 2009.
Richmond big men Terry Allen and T.J. Cline can do it all. They currently lead the team in points and assists, while Allen holds the team lead in rebounds and steals as a 6-8 forward.
Thursday's game will be broadcsat on Fox Sports 1 with Justin Kutcher and Bill Raftery headlining the broadcast. It will also be on the radio on ESPN 950 AM and 93.1 HANK FM with Bob Black and Greg Beckwith. The audio will be streamed for free on RichmondSpiders.com.
| 2015-16 SPIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY CENTRAL - No. 22 WEST VIRGINIA |
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| Who | Richmond Spiders (3-1) vs. No. 22 West Virginia Mountaineers (4-0) |
| When | Thursday, November 26, 5 p.m. ET |
| Where | Las Vegas, Nev. |
| Venue | Orleans Arena (7,471) |
| Live Video | Fox Sports 1 |
| On Air | Justin Kutcher, Bill Raftery |
| Radio | ESPN 950 AM | 93.1 HANK FM | RichmondSpiders.com |
| On Air | Bob Black, Greg Beckwith |
| Live Stats | Click Here |
| Game Notes | Notes |
Scouting West Virginia
West Virginia heads to Las Vegas with a perfect 4-0 record a ranking of No. 22 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll. The Mountaineers have played three common opponents, defeating JMU, Stetson and Bethune-Cookman along with Northern Kentucky. The Mountaineers love to press and run the floor, ranking third in the country in points scored and sporting a turnover margin of +9.0.
Devin Williams leads the nationally-ranked Mountaineers with 18.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Jevon Carter has tallied 15 assists and 11 steals with 14.5 points per game.
Series vs. West Virginia
West Virginia leads the all-time series with Richmond, 40-13. UR won the last meeting in 2001 by a score of 79-56. Previous to that game, the two schools had not played since 1976. Richmond and West Virginia used to be conference rivals in the Southern Conference.
Tourney Envy
The Spiders have loved early season neutral-court tournaments in the Mooney era. Since 2009, UR is 10-3 in neutral site tournament games with wins over Mississippi State, Missouri, Rutgers, No. 13 Florida and No. 8 Purdue.
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Richmond has averaged 90.8 points in the first four games of the season, leading the Atlantic 10 and ranking 22nd in the country in scoring offense.
According to Ken Pomeroy, the Spider offense has an adjusted efficiency of 108.5 (42nd in NCAA) with a 60.2 effective FG percentage (12th in NCAA).
Richmond's 363 points through four games marks the third-most points to start a season's first four games in program history.
Can't Hold Us
While Richmond's offensive efforts have been tremendous up and down the lineup, the Spiders have boasted major career point outputs in each of the first few games.
Terry Allen tied his career high with 27 points against JMU; T.J. Cline set a new career high with 27 against Stetson, and Trey Davis stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high 17 points at Wake Forest. Allen then set a new career high in rebounds with 13 against Bethune-Cookman.
#TA1K
After his hot start to the season, Terry Allen reached the 1,000-point plateau with his 25 points against B-CU. He became the 44th member of the 1,000-point club at UR, and eighth player to reach it under Coach Mooney.
Coach Chris Mooney is just 10 wins away from 200 victories at the University of Richmond. He is currently third all-time in wins at the school, just nine behind Malcolm U. Pitt for second all-time.
Ball Hawkers
Richmond was very protective of the ball last season with a stellar backcourt and skilled frontcourt that rarely turns it over. Richmond finished second in the A-10 and 11th in the country for fewest turnovers with 9.9 per game, setting a new school record.
Through four games of the 2015-16 season, Richmond has just 10.0 turnovers which ranks third in the A-10 and 26th in the country.
Pass...Pass...Pass...SCORE
Richmond's frontcourt is asked to handle the ball a lot away from the basket and the Spiders usually have five players touch the ball on any one possession. Quick ball movement and sharp passes lead to open shoots and fluid offense. The Spiders rank 48th in the country with an assist percentage of 62.6.
Richmond made 29 assists against Stetson, just two away from the school record. They followed it up with 18 assists at Wake Forest, and 21 against Bethune-Cookman.
As a team, Richmond sports a 2.05 assist-to-turnover ratio which ranks ninth in the country.
So far this season, Spider bigs are leading the team in assists with Allen and Cline both tallying 16 dimes. Point guard ShawnDre' Jones also has 14 assists. Cline's assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.0 ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10.
From DOWNTOWN
One of Richmond's great strengths as an offense is the great array of strong three-point shooters. UR ranks second in the A-10 with 10.0 threes per game and a 40.4 percentage rate from long range. The Spiders hit 15 treys against Stetson, just one away from the Robins Center record.
While ShawnDre' Jones leads the team with 10 threes, Spider forwards T.J. Cline (9 threes) and Marshall Wood (8 threes) stretch the defense with their outside shooting.
Gimme That
Although Richmond's defense has struggled at times to force bad shots, the Spiders have been extremely effective at creating turnovers. UR forced 20 Wake Forest turnovers last week, thanks to 11 steals.
Richmond ranks third in the A-10 and 42nd in the country with a +4.8 turnover margin. Terry Allen is fourth in the league with 2.25 steals per contest.
Born To Run
The Spiders have been able to score in bunches and do it as a swift pace. UR has averaged 10.8 fast break points per game, and outscored opponents 43-12 in fast break points this year. Richmond's average possession length of 15.8 seconds ranks 86th in the country.
Take Me Home Tonight
Richmond is 82-19 at home over the last seven seasons, winning six of the last seven home games vs. ranked teams, including a double OT win over No. 22 VCU on 2/25.
Richmond's 16 home wins in 2014-15 is tops for the most wins in any single season at the Robins Center.
Best In The A-10
Over the last eight seasons, Richmond has won 80 conference games, more than any other Atlantic 10 school. Richmond is one of just four A-10 teams to not suffer a losing season in any of the last eight years.
Over that same span, the Spiders have won 12 games against ranked teams, beating out every other Atlantic 10 team. Coach Mooney's 12 Top-25 wins rank higher than any other coach in Richmond history.
With Richmond's win at Wake Forest, the Spiders now have four wins over Wake in the last six meetings. Mooney's teams have won 17 games against power-conference programs in the last decade.
