University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball GameDay Central - #23 Maryland
11/25/2016 | Men's Basketball
BROOKLYN - Richmond (3-1) returns to the familiar surroundings of Brooklyn to face #23 Maryland (5-0) in the first game of the Barclays Center Classic on Friday night at 9:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on American Sports Network.
UR has won two games in a row against Robert Morris and Hampton and will be playing its first game away from the Robins Center this season. The Spiders renew a series with the Terrapins that has been silent since 1982.
Richmond has been successful in neutral site early-season tournaments. In Coach Mooney's tenure, the Spiders have gone 12-6 in such games, including a win over No. 14 California last year.
UR's 13 wins against ranked teams since 2008 are the most of any program in the Atlantic 10.
Friday's game will air on American Sports Network with coverage extending across the country. MASN will pick up the game in the mid-atlantic area. ASN provides a coverage map at this link. Fans can also watch the game online for free here. Mike Gleason and Mark Adams will be on the call.
The game will also be on the radio on ESPN 950 AM and 107.3 BBT FM and streaming on RichmondSpiders.com. Bob Black and Greg Beckwith will call the action over the radio airwaves.
| 2016-17 SPIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY CENTRAL - #23 MARYLAND |
|
| Who | Richmond Spiders (3-1) vs. #23 Maryland Terrapins (5-0) |
| When | Friday, Nov. 25, 9:30 p.m. |
| Where | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| Venue | Barclays Center |
| TV | ASN | Channel Finder | FREE Stream |
| On Air | Mike Gleason, Mark Adams |
| Radio | ESPN 950 AM | 107.3 BBT FM | RichmondSpiders.com |
| On Air | Bob Black, Greg Beckwith |
| Live Stats | Click Here |
| Game Notes | Notes |
Scouting Maryland
Maryland enters Barclays with a perfect 5-0 record with wins over Georgetown, Towson and Stony Brook. Led by Melo Trimble and his 19.8 points per game, the Terps have four players who average in double digits. They have averaged 75.8 points per game and held opponents to just 61.0.
Justin Jackson is the team's rebounding leader with 7.8 rpg to go with 11.0 ppg. Anthony Cowan has a team-best 17 assists.
Maryland was ranked 25th by the AP Poll earlier this year, and is currently 23rd in the Coaches Poll.
Series vs. Maryland
Maryland leads the all-time series 25-15 with the teams first meeting in 1924. The teams last met in 1982 as the Terps won eight games in a row before the series halted.
Maryland was the first team to play in Richmond's Robins Center in a game that tipped on December 2, 1972. UM won 82-50 behind the great Lefty Driesell.
Early Season Tournament Success
Richmond began play in the Barclays Center Classic with home-hosted win against Robert Morris and Hampton. The Spiders will then travel to New York to face Maryland and Kansas State/Boston College in the Barclays Center on Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.
UR has had tremendous success in early season tournaments under Coach Mooney, posting a 12-6 record in neutral site, exempt tournament games. The Spiders have won the South Padre Island Invitational, Orange Bowl Classic, Chicago Invitational and Gotham Classic with major wins over Missouri, Mississippi State, Purdue, Rutgers and California all coming in early season tournament play.
National Rankings
The Spiders' defense currently ranks 57th in the nation in fewest points allowed and 47th in opposing field goal percentage.
ShawnDre' Jones is in the top 100 in points scored and is fifth in the conference three-point field goal percentage.
T.J. Cline is fifth in the conference and 53rd in the country with 5.5 assists per game. Cline currently has the most assists for any player 6-9 or taller in the country.
Scoring Streak
T.J. Cline has now reached double figures in 17 straight games and 24 of his last 25 dating back to last season. He has 58 career double-figure scoring games.
Jones-Cline Connection
T.J. Cline and ShawnDre' Jones are one of the Atlantic 10's best duos, especially in the pick and roll and pick and pop. They combined for over 40 points in each of the first two games, marking the sixth time they've done that in their careers. They topped 30 points in UR's win over RMU.
They've also combined for 36 assists with 13 assists going to each other.
P-R-A Machine
T.J. Cline is currently averaging 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He's the only player in the Atlantic 10 to average at least 16-6-5 in points-rebounds-assists.
Assist To...
The Spiders have always run an offense with constant motion and crisp passes that lead to shots in rhythm. Richmond is at its best when every player on the court is setting up someone else for a shot.
This year, the Spiders rank fourth in the league in assists (15.3) and third in assist-turnover ratio (1.3). UR has assisted on 61 of 96 field goals for a ratio of .635, with nine different players tallying at least one assist so far.
Leaning On The Freshmen
Richmond's highly touted freshmen class have already played significant roles in Richmond's first four games.
De'Monte Buckingham, Nick Sherod and Grant Golden have shown promise in offensive and rebounding production, but have also been fantastic on intangible "hustle" plays like loose balls, charges and keeping possessions alive.
The trio have combined for an average for 52.3 minutes per contest. That marks the most combined minutes for Spider freshmen since the 2012-13 season.
Marshall Wood Finding His Range
After an inauspicious start, senior Marshall Wood has found his range again as one of the Spiders' best long-range marksmen. He hit four threes against RMU and three treys against Hampton for consecutive double-digit scoring games.
Last season, Wood hit seven threes in a game on two occasions, coming just one trey away from the school record.
Johnson Earning His Time
Sophomore Julius Johnson earned his second straight start against Hampton and he responded by tying his career high in points (8) and setting new career bests in rebounds (7) and assists (2), despite playing in foul trouble. A capable outside shooting threat, Johnson can play as an undersized forward and battle for rebounds in the paint.
Jones Takes Over In Opener
ShawnDre' Jones displayed tremendous mettle in Richmond's tough season-opening win over VMI. He shot 9-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three and 9-of-11 from the foul line. He also had three assists and three steals. With the game tied and less than 15 seconds remaining, Jones drove the left side and forced a foul on his shot. His free throws on the personal foul and eventual technical gave Richmond its three-point win.
Jones' 31-point game marks the first 30-point effort in a season opener since Kevin Steenberge (30) in 2004 against Seton Hall.It was also just the 19th 30-point game since 2000 by any Richmond Spider. Jones was named Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week.
Sherod Comes Out Strong
On opening night, Nick Sherod became the first true freshman to start in a season opener since the 2006-07 season when three freshmen started (David Brewster, Brian Morris, Dan Geriot). Sherod went on grab a game-high nine rebounds in his debut and score five points.
Best In The A-10
Over the last nine years, Richmond has won 87 conference games, the second-most among all A-10 schools. Richmond is one of just four A-10 teams to not suffer an overall losing season in any of the last eight years.
Over that same span, the Spiders have won 13 games against ranked teams, beating out every other Atlantic 10 team for ranked wins. Coach Mooney's 13 Top-25 wins rank higher than any other coach in Richmond history.
With Richmond's wins at Wake Forest and vs. Cal last year, the Spiders have won 19 games against power-conference programs in the last decade.
