University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
1-0,0-0Atlantic 10
VMI
0-1,0-0SoCon
King Dazzles in Spiders Debut
11/06/2023 | Men's Basketball
RICHMOND, Va. — In his first 20 minutes as a Spider, Jordan King scored 27 points.
King, a graduate transfer from East Tennessee State, put his new team on his back early in Monday's season opener vs VMI, leading the Spiders to 55 first-half points on their way to a comfortable 93-78 win.
"I just came out aggressive and looking for my shots, and they happened to fall tonight," said King. "Once I saw the first one go in I just felt like the basket got a little bit bigger for me."
King's 27 first-half points were the most by any Spider in half since November 16, 2018, when Jacob Gilyard scored 27 points in the second half of a win vs IUPUI. He finished with a game-high 34 points on 11-18 shooting from the field and 6-6 from the foul line.
"Jordan was so aggressive tonight and really set a great tone for us," said Head Coach Chris Mooney. "The first game can be jitters as you're feeling it out. VMI plays a very aggressive style, so if you're trying to feel it out, you're going to be in some trouble against VMI. I think [King] really took to that part of the game and just made us be aggressive by how aggressive he was."
Richmond won its fifth straight season opener and improved to 16-3 in season openers under Mooney, who was coaching his first game since undergoing a heart procedure in February and missing the final six games of the 2022-23 season.
"It's great to be part of a team and with the guys — at training meal, at shootaround today, going over last minute strategies, reinforcing things that we've spoken about. All those things that I missed being away from. It was great and obviously a win makes it all that much better."
After VMI scored the game's first five points, Richmond responded with a 23-7 run to take control midway through the first half. UR led 55-36 at halftime and built its advantage to as many as 31 points before VMI closed the game on a 10-0 run as Mooney emptied the bench, playing all 16 Spiders players.
King was joined in double figures by DeLonnie Hunt, who finished with 15 points, 4 assists and no turnovers. Jason Roche added 9 points off the bench, including a pair of three-pointers as Richmond shot 13-37 from three-point range, one off the program record for most three-point attempts in a game.
Center Neal Quinn, who was honored in a pre-game ceremony for scoring his 1,000th career point at the end of the 2022-23 season, led Richmond with 10 rebounds and 7 assists while scoring 6 points.
The win was Richmond's fifth straight in home games vs non-conference opponents. UR is now 23-2 in non-conference home games over the last five seasons.
Up next for the Spiders is a Saturday home game vs Siena. The game will tip at 8 PM and be streamed on ESPN Plus.
