Spiders can't survive second-half dry spell vs VCU

Friday, January 20

Robins Center

7:00 PM

University of Richmond

11-9,4-3Atlantic 10

VCU

15-5,6-1Atlantic 10

VCU

Richmond

01/20/2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney, Burton Postgame Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — Spiders forward Isaiah Bigelow threw the ball into the high post, sprinted down the left side of the lane, collected a floating return pass from center Neal Quinn, and rose and slammed the ball through the hoop, sending a sellout crowd into a frenzy as Richmond cut VCU's lead to 51-46 with 10:25 to play Friday night at the Robins Center. What seemed like a setup for another classic finish in the Richmond Area Honda Dealers Capital City Classic was actually the highpoint for the Spiders in the second half. Richmond would go the next nine-and-a-half minutes without a field goal, allowing VCU to pull away for a 74-62 win.

"It felt like we were doing some things well and being aggressive, but we weren't able to sustain it," said Spiders Head Coach Chris Mooney of Richmond's run midway through the second half that cut what had been a 13-point VCU lead to as few as four. "Our offense couldn't sustain. Even though our defense was good I thought, our offense couldn't help it. The turnovers were a problem and an issue. Not quite good enough offensively. Not quite fluid enough. Not quite enough of how we usually try to score."

Richmond committed 16 turnovers during the game, its second most in any contest this season. Four of them came during VCU's game-deciding 18-2 run in the second half, which turned a narrow edge into a 20-point lead for the Rams.

"When we had cut it to four we had just got a turnover and it got really, really loud in there," said Spiders forward Tyler Burton. "And then we had a live ball turnover. It was just a quick giveaway and it put them up six and they just kind of ran away with from there."

Burton led Richmond with 14 points, increasing his career total to 1,393 and moving into the top 25 on the school's career scoring list.

"I think we need a better balance of when to attack and when to just keep the ball moving and run our stuff. A lot of that falls on me," said Burton.

The Rams outrebounded the Spiders 37-27 and held Richmond to 22 points in the paint, nearly half as many as the 40 points UR scored in the paint Tuesday vs Rhode Island.

"We need to score from the inside more," said Mooney. "I think we're a good shooting team, and scoring from the inside helps all of that. That's kind of where I think it has to start from us. … Your offense has to support your defense a little bit. I think defensively we're very close. On offense, I would say [we need] scoring inside and just a little bit more creation of shots from the perimeter."

VCU grabbed the lead midway through the first half with a 7-0 spurt, taking a 17-12 edge just over nine minutes before halftime. The Rams then scored the final six points of the half to take a 36-26 lead at intermission.

Matt Grace was the only other Spider to score in double figures, finishing with 13 points. Neal Quinn added eight points, five rebounds, and one block for Richmond, who fell to 11-9 overall and 4-3 in the Atlantic 10.

Richmond will play a pair of road games next week, visiting Massachusetts on Wednesday and Dayton on Saturday.

"It's just all about us staying together right now," said Burton. "Not getting too low and not getting too high when things starting going well again."