Spiders Not Slowed at Fordham, Extend Win Streak to 11

Wednesday, January 31

New York, NY

7:00 PM

University of Richmond

16-5,8-0Atlantic 10

Fordham

9-12,3-5Atlantic 10

Richmond

Fordham

Spiders Not Slowed at Fordham, Extend Win Streak to 11

01/31/2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score AUDIO: Coach Mooney Postgame AUDIO: Dji Bailey Postgame

RICHMOND, Va. — Facing one of the Atlantic 10's most defensive-minded teams, the Richmond Spiders had their best offensive outing in some time Wednesday as they pulled away from Fordham for an 83-69 win, their 11^th in a row.

Richmond shot 58.5 percent from the field, its best in an A-10 game in more than four years (60 percent vs La Salle on Jan. 22, 2020), and 8-14 from three-point range. The 83 points scored by the Spiders were their most in 10 games away from the Robins Center this season.

"I thought that it was tremendous," said Spider coach Chris Mooney of Richmond's offensive execution. "When a team tries to extend their defense and play physically and be disruptive, they're going to give something up. I thought we had a really great combination of aggressiveness and patience."

Richmond found its way to the rim time and time again on back-door cuts and dribble drives to the basket. The Spiders finished with 42 points in the paint, their most in any conference game this season.

"I thought that we handled it so well," said Mooney. "When you're trying to be aggressive all the way out there, you tend to have less and less help near the basket as the shot clock goes on.

"I've talked about a us having a higher ceiling offense and I hope this is the start of that."

Richmond is now 16-5 this season, including 8-0 in the A-10, one game ahead of second-place Dayton. With Wednesday's result, the Spiders exceeded their overall win total (15) and conference win total (7) from last season. Richmond's 11 straight wins are its longest since streak since 1935 and the second-longest active win streak in all of Division I.

Jordan King led all scorers with 29 points, shooting 8-10 from the field, 4-4 from three-point range, and 9-10 from the free-throw line. He is the first player to score at least 25 points and shoot at least 80 percent from the field in an A-10 game this season.

Dji Bailey matched a career high with 14 points, with DeLonnie Hunt (12) and Neal Quinn (10) also scoring in double figures. Quinn added a game-high six assists, and Isaiah Bigelow grabbed nine rebounds despite being limited to six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

Freshman Mikkel Tyne led the Spiders bench with eight points, knifing through the Fordham pressure repeatedly to finish at the rim or get to the foul line. "He's going to be special," said Mooney of Tyne.

Next up for the Spiders is a crosstown trip to VCU on Saturday for the first leg of the Richmond Area Honda Dealers Capital City Classic. The game will tip at 4 PM and be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN Plus.