Chilly Shooting Leads to Men’s Basketball Loss to FCGU

Saturday, December 28

Robins Center

6 PM

University of Richmond

5-8,0-0Atlantic 10

Florida Gulf Coast

5-8,0-0ASUN

FGCU

Richmond

Dusan Neskovic wrestles for a loose ball on the floor of the Robins Center

Chilly Shooting Leads to Men’s Basketball Loss to FCGU

12/28/2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney Postgame Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — Through the first 14 minutes of Saturday's matchup vs Florida Gulf Coast, the Spiders offense was clicking. UR held a five-point lead, having posted 28 points on 9-19 shooting from the field. But Richmond missed its next 12 field goal attempts and saw its five-point lead turn into a 15-point deficit over the next nine minutes of game time as FGCU took control of the contest on its way to a 75-57 win in the Robins Center.

"They played a very good defensive game and part of it was giving up the three-point shot," said Mooney of the Eagles defensive scheme. "They were protecting the basket against cuts and post moves but were willing to give up three-point shots. You have to convert them at some point."

Richmond shot 7-32 (21.9 percent) from three-point range, its worst in a home game this season. Richmond's 30.2 (16-53) field goal percentage overall was its lowest in a home game since December 30, 2021 vs Saint Joseph's (27.8) and its seventh-lowest in any game at the Robins Center during Mooney's 20-year tenure.

UR's best stretch in the second half saw the Spiders close the gap to 10 at 60-50 with 8:17 remaining following a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by forward Dusan Neskovic.

"When we had the three guards in the game and I think we got it to 10 after Dusan's three, the next three plays were similar in that the pace of the game was fast and we were moving and I think we missed all three shots," said Mooney.

Richmond was paced by Neskovic, who scored a game-high 20 points and added a team-high nine rebounds, one off his career high. The only other Spider to score in double figures was forward Jonathan Beagle, who recorded 14 points on 5-8 shooting from the field. He was the lone Spider to make more than half of his field goal attempts Saturday.

""When you have guys who can shoot you have to make a couple so that the defense has to come out there and guard you a little bit," said Mooney.

The loss dropped Richmond to 5-8 at the conclusion of its non-conference schedule.

"It's tempting of course to try new things, but I think the most important thing is to try to be good at what we're doing," said Mooney. "Just try to continue to understand better how we're trying to defend, understand better how we're trying to score. If we can do those things, we can build and be better. … We're a few months in to really trying to do things a certain way and we need to get better at that way."

The Spiders, defending regular season champions in the Atlantic 10, will open their 24^th season in the conference Tuesday at the Robins Center against George Washington. Tip time is scheduled for 4 PM and the game will be seen on both ESPN Plus and Monumental Sports Network.

"Conference games are exciting and great, but we really need to make sure we take care of ourselves and are zeroed in," said Mooney. "There's obviously so much we have to get better at, and we're going to work really hard here the next couple of days — we're not in class — to try to do that."