Spiders clamp down on Coppin State to win non-conference finale

Wednesday, December 28

Robins Center

7:00 PM

University of Richmond

7-6,0-0Atlantic 10

Coppin State

5-11,0-0MEAC

Coppin St.

Richmond

Spiders clamp down on Coppin State to win non-conference finale

12/28/2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney, Roche Postgame Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — 20 minutes into Wednesday's game at the Robins Center, the Richmond Spiders were neck-and-neck with a feisty Coppin State squad.

26 minutes into the game, the Spiders were up by double digits and cruising to an eventual 83-65 win in their non-conference finale.

Richmond outscored Coppin State 17-7 over the first six-plus minutes of the second half, turning a 40-38 halftime lead into a 57-45 advantage. Coppin State wouldn't get closer than 10 points the rest of the way, as UR improved to 6-1 at home this season and 4-0 all-time vs the Eagles.

"I thought that we were better defensively in the second half and I thought we were able to be more assertive," said Spider Head Coach Chris Mooney of the Spiders defense, which held Coppin State to 27 points and 39 percent shooting from the field (11-28) after halftime. "We were able to make it more difficult and dictate a little bit more of the action."

Offensively, the Spiders were led by Tyler Burton, who finished with a game-high 20 points, reaching the 20-point barrier for a third straight game. Jason Roche added 16 points, 13 in the first half, while shooting 4-8 from three-point range.

He's far more than a shooter," said Mooney of Roche. "He's very tough. He's very competitive. He's an incredible teammate. I think he's going to show his passing and his ball-handling as he's here more and more and gets more comfortable. He's obviously a tremendous shooter and that has a huge impact on the game but he's much more than that and we're really, really fortunate to have him."

Roche, who made 39.7 percent of his three-pointers at Citadel last year, is now shooting 46.9 percent from three-point range this season, best in the Atlantic 10.

"This year I've [had] a lot easier shots," said Roche. "I've been able to set my feet a little bit easier. It's a lot more standstill shots instead of one-dribble in transition or one dribble, on-the-move shots. I think the volume [of shots] has gone down but the quality has gone up."

Neal Quinn added 14 points and a team-high seven assists for Richmond, while Andre Gustavson posted eight points and eight rebounds while holding Coppin State's Sam Sessoms, who was averaging 23.5 points per game entering Wednesday, to just 13 points.

Richmond is now 7-6 this season, marking the 14^th time in 18 seasons under Chris Mooney the Spiders will enter Atlantic 10 play with a winning record. The Spiders will start their 22^nd season of A-10 competition Saturday at George Mason. Tip-off is at 2 PM and the game will be televised on MASN2 and ESPN Plus.