Cayo Scores 18 in Loss at VCU

Wednesday, February 13

Richmond, Va.

7:00 PM

University of Richmond

VCU

Richmond

VCU

02/13/2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond entered Wednesday's game against VCU fully expecting to face one of the nation's top defenses. What Richmond might not have accounted for was VCU's prowess from the three-point line. The Rams, who entered the game shooting 29 percent from deep – the 11^th-lowest figure in Division I, hit 10 of their 22 shots from beyond the arc to pace them to an 81-60 win over the Spiders in the opening game of Lumber Liquidators Capital City Classic.

"To me [VCU's] three-point shooting was really the story of the game because when they shoot threes well they're going to be really tough to beat." said coach Chris Mooney. "We had way too may live-ball turnovers … and that's something we're going to need to correct. Generally we're a team that takes care of the ball very well," said Mooney of Richmond's 16 turnovers, a season high.

The Spiders found lanes in VCU's press early and opened a 9-6 lead five minutes into the game, with Grant Golden scoring or assisting on all nine of Richmond's points.

But Richmond couldn't find its range from the field, missing its next six shots from the floor and going nearly eight minutes without a field goal while allowing the Rams to turn a three-point deficit into an 11-point lead.

After VCU extended its advantage to as many as 16, Richmond regained its footing and used a 10-5 run to close the gap to 10 at 35-25 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half before the Rams hit a pair of three pointers to regain control, taking a 41-25 lead into intermission.

After VCU opened the second half with a three-pointer, the Spiders used a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 10 at 44-34, the first of three times they would narrow their deficit to 10 in the second half. But Richmond could never pull within single digits of the Rams, who put the game away with a 14-3 run between the nine and five-minute marks of the second half to build their lead to 23 en route to an 81-60 victory. With the win, VCU snapped a two-game losing streak to the Spiders.

Nathan Cayo led all Spiders with 18 points in large part to a 10-19 performance from the free-throw stripe, the most free throws attempted by a Spider since Terry Allen shot 21 against California in 2015. Grant Golden scored 15 points and added a team-high five rebounds and four assists despite being limited to 27 minutes by foul trouble. It was Golden's third straight game with 15 or more points. The Spiders were outscored 28-2 in bench points.

Richmond is off this weekend. "It's good to have a break. We go from scouting one team to scouting the next to scouting the next. We'll get some days off and get our guys focused on ourselves and recharged."

The Spiders will return to the court on Wednesday, February 20 vs Fordham at the Robins Center. Tip time is 7 PM and the game can be seen on NBC Sports Washington Plus and ESPN Plus.