Burton tallies game-high 21 points in loss to Clemson

Saturday, December 17

Greenville, SC

7:00 PM

University of Richmond

5-6,0-0Atlantic 10

Clemson

9-3,1-0ACC

Richmond

Clemson

Burton tallies game-high 21 points in loss to Clemson

12/17/2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Spiders men's basketball team was overwhelmed by Clemson Saturday at the Greenville Winter Invitational, falling to the Tigers 85-57 despite a game-high 21 points from senior forward Tyler Burton.

Clemson, who improved to 9-3 with the win, was in action for the first time since a surprising 76-58 loss to Loyola Chicago a week ago. The Tigers made clear from the opening tip that they weren't looking to lose to another A-10 opponent, opening the game on a 13-1 run and never looking back.

"So much of it comes down to competing and being aggressive right from the beginning of the game and tonight we didn't have that," said Richmond coach Chris Mooney,

"Those first minutes are critical. The first time that guy tries to duck you into the lane for post position, you have to anticipate that and get around him. The first time you have a chance to drive the ball you have to retain possession and be tough and make the right decision and if you need to pass the ball put the pass on the money. Those things are just so critically important, especially against a team that is coming off what they considered a bad loss and had turned up the aggression."

Clemson converted 15 Richmond turnovers into 19 points, while the Spiders scored just three points off turnovers.

"We had 10 turnovers in the first half and this is the first time in a long time we've had an issue with turnovers," said Mooney. "So not only were they physical in the half court and on both sides of the ball, the turnovers we had enabled them to get easy buckets and feel good and that kind of built upon itself. We were not nearly aggressive enough."

Burton's 21 points increased his career total to 1,205, making him the 35^th player in history to score 1,200 or more points at Richmond.

"Tyler was aggressive within the structure of what we want to do. He made a couple of really nice moves and pushed through [contact] on some drives," said Mooney.

Neal Quinn was the only other Spider in double figures, finishing with 10 points on 4-7 shooting from the field. Jason Roche and Marcus Randolph each added six points.

"I feel like we came out a little slow on defense," said Randolph after the game. "We let them get to the stuff that we didn't want them to get to."

The Spiders were without guard Dji Bailey, who will miss five-to-seven weeks after breaking a bone in his left hand in practice Thursday.

"Unfortunately, we lost Dji this week but it's definitely an opportunity to step up for me and other guards, younger guards that are on the bench," said Randolph. "We've just got to come together and rally and come back out on Wednesday and come with that fight that we know we can bring."

The Spiders will face Bucknell on Wednesday at the Robins Center. Tip-off is at 7 PM and the game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Washington and ESPN Plus.