University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
13-5,3-2Atlantic 10
La Salle
5-13,1-4Atlantic 10
Spiders Lock Down La Salle, Improve to 13-5
01/14/2026 | Men's Basketball
RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond's best defensive effort of the season shut down La Salle and the Spiders benefited from complete games from a couple of big men as UR beat the Explorers 74-53 at the Robins Center Wednesday. The 21-point margin of victory was Richmond's biggest in an Atlantic 10 conference game since Jan. 26, 2021 at Saint Joseph's (23).
I'm proud of our effort. I thought the energy was really good, said Spiders coach Chris Mooney. I thought we played a great defensive game, maybe our best defensive game. La Salle can really hurt you with their one-on-one play, and sometime you get lulled into not playing team defense because you have to guard the guys out on their perimeter. And I thought we maintained our team defensive principles and defended very well.
Richmond imrpoved to 13-5 overall and 3-2 in Atlantic 10 play this season.
The 53 points allowed by the Spiders were their fewest in any game since Dec. 30, 2023 vs Lafayette (38). Richmond registered four blocks, including three from Mike Walz, and owned the defensive glass, allowing just six second-chance points for the Explorers. UR's top rebounder was guard Will Johnston, who registered a career-high 12 boards, all on the defensive end. Johnston's 12 rebounds were the most by a Spiders guard in nearly eight years, since Nick Sherod had 14 at Davidson on Jan. 28, 2018.
He really battled, said Mooney of Johnston. All of those things — coming up with a loose ball, tying a guy up — all these hustle plays really do have an impact, especially in college basketball. His defensive rebounding was just excellent, and that's a weapon, because when he can be the guy in there grabbing the rebound then he's also the guy pushing the ball up the floor and getting us started on offense.
We knew that they're one of the most physical teams in the league. They're trying to force the issue in getting to the rim. I think we just met that with great attention to detail and played great team defense in the gaps, added Walz. I thought we did a great job on the physical side today.
AJ Lopez led the Spiders offensively with 18 points on 7-14 shooting from the field. UR centers Walz (14 points and eight rebounds) and Jonathan Beagle (13 points and six rebounds) combined for 27 points and 14 boards. Jaden Daughtry added 11 points off the bench on perfect 4-4 shooting.
AJ is certainly a very good scorer but we do think we have balance and can score in different ways, said Mooney.
Richmond opened the game on a 14-8 run over the first six minutes, a stretch that included a pair of three-pointers from Walz.
We've had a couple of tough home games. We really just want to get the fans involved [early], said Walz. We wanted to come and force the issue first, and I think we really did that today.
That was the talk of the last couple of days — starting the game with more effort and energy, added Mooney.
A 13-2 run later in the half pushed Richmond's lead to as many as 13, but the Explorers outscored UR 12-3 over the final three minutes of the first half and trailed by just four at the break, 36-32.
Richmond built its lead back to nine in the first four minutes of the second half and broke the game wide open with a 10-0 run that started with just over six minutes remaining. That stretch featured back-to-back buckets from Jonathan Beagle, the second which came on a floater with 4:37 to play and gave him 1,000 points for his college career.
UR has won three straight games vs La Salle and is 5-1 in its last six meetings with the Explorers.
Up next for the Spiders is a road matchup Saturday at Saint Louis, winners of 11 straight games. The game will tip at 4 PM eastern and be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
