Men's Basketball GameDay Central - Massachusetts - University of Richmond Athletics

AMHERST, Mass. - Richmond (17-11, 11-5) travels to Massachusetts (14-15, 4-12) on Wednesday for its final road game of the regular season.

The Spiders are on a two-game winning streak after dispatching Fordham, 70-48, on Saturday. The Minutemen also picked up a big win on Saturday by defeating La Salle.

Richmond looks to pick up its sixth conference road victory, a feat UR hasn't accomplished since 2011 when UR won seven conference road games. Only Dayton and Rhode Island have won 6 road A-10 games thus far.

The Spiders weren't stymied by Fordham's press on Saturday, committing just 13 turnovers. Against the league's top three in opposing turnovers (Fordham, Dayton, VCU) UR has averaged just 12.4 turnovers, nearly four less than their average.

Richmond's Khwan Fore dished 12 assists as the Spiders reached 20+ assists for the sixth time this year. Fore's 12 assists were the most in a Spider game since 1996 when Carlos Cueto accomplished it.

The live video stream of the game, free of charge, will be broadcast on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network with UMass announcers Josh Maurer and Tim Collins on the call.

The game will also be on the radio on ESPN 950 AM, 107.3 BBT, Sirius Satellite Channel 83, SiriusXM Internet 962, 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 - MASSACHUSETTS
Who	Richmond Spiders (17-11, 11-5) at Massachusetts Minutemen (14-15, 4-12)
When	Wednesday, March 1, 7 p.m.
Where	Amherst, Mass.
Venue	Mullins Center (9,493)
TV	A-10 Digital Network
On Air	Josh Maurer, Tim Collins
Radio	ESPN 950 AM \| 107.3 BBT \| RichmondSpiders.com Sirius Channel 83; SiriusXM Internet 962
On Air	Bob Black, Greg Beckwith
Live Stats	Click Here
Game Notes	Notes

Scouting UMass
Richmond travels to UMass as the Minutemen look to build off a strong win over La Salle over the weekend. Despite a 4-12 record in league play, UMass still ranks second in the league in assists and third in steals. They have defended well, holding opponents to 41.2 percent from the field.

Series vs. UMass
Richmond leads the all-time series, 11-6, and has won three in a row. The Spiders spoiled UMass' Senior Night two years ago and will have another shot on Wednesday. The Spiders are 3-4 all-time at UMass.

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 18.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, making his case as a prime candidate for Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors as he ranks fifth, third and second in P-R-A in the league.

Cline is the only player in the NCAA to post 18-8-5 in points, rebounds and assists. He has more assists than any player in the country his height or taller and ranks 12th in the nation with an assist rate of 38.2. His 153 assists on the season rank 4th all-time as he is 12 assists away from trailing only Greg Beckwith for most assists in a single season.

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.
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. He is tied for second in the A-10 with three 30-point games this year.

Jones is averaging 16.9 points per game and 4.1 assists per game, ranking top 10 in the league in both categories. His assist-turnover ratio of 2.0 ranks fifth 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.

High-Flying Spiders
While Richmond runs a "Princeton-style" offense, the Spiders are far from slow and boring. Richmond ranks in the top 75 in the nation in pace of play and UR has averaged 76.0 ppg in conference play, tied for first in the league. Richmond is also shooting 48.1 percent from the field in A-10 play, leading the league.

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 34th in the nation by holding opponents to just 31.4 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 (16.7) and assist-turnover ratio (1.4). Richmond has dished more or same assists than the opponent in 23 of the season's 28 games. In Atlantic 10 play, the Spiders have averaged 17.6 assists per game.

UR ranks 10th in the country in assist-to-FG percentage of 62.5. 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 11.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in A-10 play, while Sherod has 9.3 points and 2.0 rebounds.

Buckingham has been a stat-stuffer in many ways. In conference play, he is second on the team in rebounds, fourth in assists, first in steals and first in blocks.

Khwan Effect
Although quiet off the court, Khwan Fore can make a big statement on it. His rim-rattling dunks can be momentum shifters when coming from a 6-0 guard. He had three such dunks in the second half at Dayton and two against Davidson. He is Richmond's most athletic player pound-for-pound with a 45-inch vertical.

He exploded for a career-high 24 points against George Washington, scoring on dribble drives and pull-up jumpers at the elbow. He then dished a career-high 12 assists at Fordham, the most by any Spider since 1996.

In A-10 play, Fore has averaged 11.3 points with 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He ranks eighth in the league with 1.7 steals per game.

Award Center
The Spiders have been racking up Atlantic 10 Weekly Awards. UR swept the awards a month 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 a week later, the most of any player in the league.

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 first 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 16-1 when holding a lead with five minutes remaining and 14-2 when leading at the half. 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 1,528 career points at Richmond, with Jones right behind him at 1,493. Adding his points from his freshman year at Niagara, Cline has totaled 1,790 career points.

Jones moved into sixth place all-time with 206 career three-pointers. Jones now also has 344 assists for his career, ranking ninth all-time.

Cline is now 10th all-time in field goals made and 10th in assists. He is fourth all-time for assists in a single season, just 47 away from the school record.

With Jones and Cline continually moving up, seven of the top 14 scorers all-time have graduated since 2010.

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Men's Basketball GameDay Central - Massachusetts

Players Mentioned

De'Monte Buckingham

T.J. Cline

Khwan Fore

ShawnDre' Jones

Nick Sherod