University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball GameDay Central - Davidson
02/20/2017 | Men's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond Spiders play host to Davidson in the penultimate home game of the 2016-17 regular season on Tuesday night in the Robins Center. Game time is set for 8 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Richmond scored a big win over Davidson to open the conference season back in December. It marked just the second win over Davidson since the Wildcats joined the Atlantic 10, and the first win at Davidson since 1976 (5 games). The Wildcats hold the edge in the all-time series 33-14, although Richmond is 4-3 vs. Davidson in the Robins Center.
T.J. Cline now has 1498 points in his Richmond career, good for 11th all-time as he just passed Terry Allen. With 1466 points, ShawnDre' Jones ranks 14th in points, while also ranking sixth in threes and ninth in assists.
Richmond leads the Atlantic 10 with 16.5 assists per game. The Spiders also lead the league and rank in the top 15 in the country in assist/turnover ratio of 1.3.
The Spiders are 9-5 at home this season, including 5-2 in A-10 play. UR is averaging 6,247 fans per game, good for third in the conference and ahead of last season's 20-year high for attendance.
The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Ben Holden and Brendan Haywood will be on the call.
The game will also be on the radio on ESPN 950 AM, 107.3 BBT, Sirius Channel 91; XM Channel 201; SiriusXM Internet 961 and streamed on RichmondSpiders.com. Bob Black and Greg Beckwith will call the action over the radio airwaves.
| 2016-17 SPIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY CENTRAL - DAVIDSON |
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| Who | Richmond Spiders (15-11, 9-5) vs. Davidson Wildcats (14-11, 7-7) |
| When | Tuesday, February 21, 8 p.m. |
| Where | Richmond, Va. |
| Venue | Robins Center (7,201) |
| TV | CBS Sports Network |
| On Air | Ben Holden, Brendan Haywood |
| Radio |
ESPN 950 AM | 107.3 BBT | RichmondSpiders.com |
| On Air | Bob Black, Greg Beckwith |
| Live Stats | Click Here |
| Game Notes | Notes |
Scouting Davidson
The Davidson Wildcats have won two in a row against George Washington and on the road at UMass. The Wildcats are 4-3 in road games in Atlantic 10 play.
The Wildcats are second in the conference in defensive rebounds and third in assist-to-turnover ratio. Davidson has only turned the ball over 11.9 times per game, good for second in the league.
Jack Gibbs leads the conference with 21.6 points per game. He has combined with Peyton Aldridge (20.5) to form the top scoring duo in the Atlantic 10. Gibbs ranks in the top 10 in the league in assists, while Aldridge is in the top 10 in rebounds.
Series vs. VCU
Davidson leads the all-times 33-14, with a 13-10 advantage at Richmond. However, the Spiders are 4-3 vs. Davidson in the Robins Center and 1-1 at home since the Wildcats joined the Atlantic 10. UR defeated Davidson on the road in December for the first time since 1976.
P-R-A Machine
After coming close on three occasions, T.J. Cline finally broke through for the first-ever triple-double in school history against Duquesne. He scored 34 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
It marked just the sixth time that any NCAA DI player has reached 30 points in a triple-double in the last 20 years. Of those six players, Cline was the only one to do it in regulation.
T.J. Cline is currently averaging 19.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
Cline is the only player in the NCAA to post 19-8-5 in points, rebounds and assists. He has more assists than any player in the country his height or taller and ranks 11th in the nation with an assist rate of 39.2. His 143 assists on the season rank 5th all-time as he is 57 assists away from the single-season school record.
A preseason All-A-10 First Teamer, Cline ranks fourth in the league in points, third in rebounds and second in assists, making his case for Player of the Year honors.
Cline is putting together one of the best seasons in recent memory in rebounding as Charles Stephens (1997-98) was the last Spider to average over eight rebounds a game for an entire season (8.3).
Cline has tallied 10 double-doubles this season, more than any other Spider since 1987-88 when Peter Woolfolk tallied 13. He is second in the A-10 and 40th in the country in double-doubles.
Batman and Robin
Cline's partner in crime the past three years has been fellow senior ShawnDre' Jones. Jones also scored 30 points in UR's win over Duquesne, the first time a pair of Spiders have each scored 30 in a game in Mooney's tenure. Jones then followed it up with a gutsy 30-point effort at VCU.
Jones is averaging 17.0 points per game and 4.2 assists per game, ranking top 10 in the league in both categories. His assist-turnover ratio of 1.9 ranks eighth in the league.
Jones and Cline are the third-highest scoring duo in the Atlantic 10.
Jones became the first player in Richmond history to top 1,400 points, 300 assists and 200 three-pointers made.
Defending The Line
Richmond has done a fantastic job defending the three-point line this season. It's even more impressive considering the improvement from last year. Last season, Richmond ranked 267th in three-point defense. This year, the Spiders rank 21st in the nation by holding opponents to just 30.8 percent from long range.
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.
The Spiders lead the league in assists (16.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.3). Richmond has dished more or same assists than the opponent in 22 of the season's 26 games. In Atlantic 10 play, the Spiders have averaged 17.4 assists per game.
UR ranks 14th in the country in assist-to-FG percentage of 62.2. The Spiders led the league in assist-turnover ratio last year and ranked second the year before.
Freshmen Impact
Against Rhode Island, Nick Sherod and De'Monte Buckingham became the first pair of freshmen starters in the Spider lineup since the 2007-08 season (Kevin Anderson, Kevin Smith).
The two have been a vital part of Richmond's success in A-10 play. Buckingham is averaging 10.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in A-10 play, while Sherod has 9.6 points and 1.9 rebounds.
Over the last 10 games, Buckingham has averaged 7.8 rebounds per game. Sherod has reached double figures in five of the last eight games with 14.3 ppg in the last three games. Buckingham won two A-10 Rookie of the Week awards.
Khwan Effect
Although quiet off the court, Khwan Fore can make a big statement on it. His rim-rattling dunks can make big statements when coming from a 6-0 guard. He had three such dunks in the second half at Dayton. He is Richmond's most athletic player pound-for-pound.
He exploded for a career-high 24 points against George Washington, scoring on dribble drives and pull-up jumpers at the elbow.
In A-10 play, Fore has averaged 11.6 points with 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He ranks eighth in the league with 1.6 steals per game.
Award Center
The Spiders have been racking up Atlantic 10 Weekly Awards. UR swept the awards three weeks ago with Cline winning Co-Player of the Week and Buckingham earning his second-straight Rookie of the Week. Cline then won his fourth Player of the Week honor two weeks ago, the most of any player in the league.
Two weeks ago, Cline was tabbed by the USBWA as the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week after his triple-double. It marked the first national player of the week honor for any Spider.
Surviving Runs
In Richmond's four A-10 road wins, the Spiders have built leads of 18, 21, 18 and 15 points in the second half. In each instance, the home team has made it a one-possession game in the final 10 minutes. However, Richmond has been able to make winning plays in each instance down the stretch.
The Spiders are 14-1 when holding a lead with five minutes remaining. UR has overcome double-digit deficits in three of the teams' wins, and only given up a double-digit lead in a loss once to then-ranked Maryland.
Climbing The Record Books
ShawnDre' Jones and T.J. Cline continue to climb Richmond's all-time record book.
Cline has now scored 1,498 career points at Richmond, with Jones right behind him at 1,464. Adding his points from his freshman year at Niagara, Cline has totaled 1,760 career points.
Jones moved into sixth place all-time with 206 career three-pointers. Jones now also has 338 assists for his career, ranking ninth all-time.
Cline is now 11th all-time in field goals made and 11th in assists. He is fifth all-time for assists in a single season, just 57 away from the school record.
Jones is now 15th all-time in the career scoring list. Seven of the top 15 scorers have graduated since 2010.
