King Scores 23 in Loss to 18th-Ranked Colorado

Monday, November 20

Daytona Beach, FL

8:00 PM

University of Richmond

2-2,0-0Atlantic 10

#18 Colorado

4-0,0-0Pac-12

Colorado

Richmond

11/20/2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Richmond Spiders tested 18^th-ranked Colorado throughout their Monday night matchup in the Sunshine Slam, leading in the game's final quarter and trailing by one with fewer than four minutes remaining before falling 64-59.

"I thought the things that we talked about — not giving up points in transition, making the game tough and gritty — I think those things really showed up," said Spiders Head Coach Chris Mooney. "We made it a little bit difficult on them. We made them take some hard shots. We fought on the backboard. We did a lot of really positive things."

Richmond was led by Jordan King, who registered 23 points and six rebounds, both most among Spiders.

"Even though they were a top-25 team, we came into this game thinking we were going to win," said King. "We had all the motivation in the world. We knew we were the underdogs. Even though we didn't the result that we wanted I think that we made progress."

Richmond was seeking its 16^th win vs a top-25 opponent under Chris Mooney and its first since defeating No. 16 Iowa in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Colorado scored the game's first six points before an 8-0 Richmond run gave the Spiders their first lead of the game. After the Buffaloes built their lead to as many as seven points, Richmond closed the gap to 28-25 at the break as Neal Quinn hit a turnaround hook shot just before the halftime buzzer.

An 8-0 run midway through the second half put Richmond back in front, as Dji Bailey's layup with 10:50 to play made the score 42-40 in favor of the Spiders. But Colorado used eight free throws to put together a decisive 10-2 run over the game's final four minutes.

The Spiders played the game's final 18 minutes without starting point guard DeLonnie Hunt, who injured his left wrist in the first half. In his absence, freshman Mikkel Tyne played a season-high 21 points.

Richmond was whistled for 21 fouls, 10 more than Colorado and tied for UR's most in a game over the last three seasons. Several Spiders sat for long stretches with foul trouble, forcing UR to go deeper into its bench and use new lineup combintations.

"It's always just 'next-man-up' mentality," said King. "Everyone's playing hard. Everyone just wants to win. It goes back to us just on and off the court. We're always gelling. We can talk to each other anyway we want, because we just respond. We love each other and at the end of the day we all just want the same result, and that's a win."

Richmond will face UNLV in the Sunshine Slam third-place game Tuesday at 6:30 PM on FloHoops. It will the first-ever matchup between the Spiders and Rebels.

"It's not a consolation game," said King. "It's a chance for us to improve and another chance for us to go out there and get a win."