Mooney Ties Tarrant's Record For Wins By a Coach as Spiders Stop IUPUI

Friday, November 16

Robins Center

7:00 PM

University of Richmond

IUPUI

Richmond

Mooney Ties Tarrant's Record For Wins By a Coach as Spiders Stop IUPUI

11/16/2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score MOONEY & PLAYERS POSTGAME PHOTO GALLERY

Gilyard explodes for 27 points in second half

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Sophomore Jacob Gilyard scored 27 second-half points en route to a career-high 31 and led the University of Richmond men's basketball team to a 78-70 win over visiting IUPUI on Friday night at the Robins Center.

With the win, head coach Chris Mooney tied Dick Tarrant as the all-time winningest head coach in Richmond Spiders men's basketball history with 239 wins.

"I think Jacob Gilyard played as well as I've ever seen a guard play at Richmond," Mooney said after the win. "We played with a lot of toughness and a lot of grit, and I'm really proud of our guys."

The Jaguars took an early lead in the game, making their first five shots from the field and doubling up the Spiders 20-10 to force a Richmond timeout. The Spiders turned up the defensive pressure, going to a full-court trap and holding IUPUI to just 10 points through the remainder of the half.

After tallying just 12 points through the opening 14 minutes, the Spiders used a 14-3 run to end the half, including a lay-in by Grant Golden at the buzzer, and headed into the locker room down 30-29.

Grant Golden and Nick Sherod led the Spiders in the opening half, each scoring 12 points. Gilyard logged five assists in the first half of play.

Gilyard continued to turn up the offensive pressure in the second half, scoring 14 points in the opening 7:30 to give the Spiders a 48-42 lead. After a pair of field goals from IUPUI, Sherod scored five straight points before stealing the ball and sending it to Gilyard for an easy lay in and a nine-point advantage.

The Spiders took their first double-digit lead of the game with under four minutes left to play when IUPUI was assessed a technical foul. Gilyard made both free throws on the play.

The Jaguars used full-court pressure and made their final six shots to cut the Spider lead to four, but freshman Jake Wojcik, Sherod and Golden each made free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Sherod and Golden finished the game with 22 and 18 points, respectively, while Golden also pulled down 10 rebounds for his sixth career double-double. Seven different Spiders logged a steal on the day, with sophomore Nathan Cayo finishing the game with a career-high four blocks.

"Tonight's win was really hard fought," Mooney added. "This is a good group in terms of their togetherness and commitment to each other, and hopefully we continue to improve."

The Spiders will now hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to Fort Myers, Florida, for the inaugural Fort Myers Tip-Off. Richmond will face off with 2018 Final Four participant Loyola-Chicago on Monday, November 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the first of two games in the tournament.