University of Richmond Athletics
Tuesday, February 10
Robins Center
7:00 PM
University of Richmond
14-11,4-8Atlantic 10
82
vs
70
George Mason
21-4,9-3Atlantic 10
1
2
F
George Mason
29
41
70
Richmond
49
33
82
Spiders Blitz George Mason, Take Down Top-2 Team in A-10
02/10/2026 | Men's Basketball
RICHMOND, Va. — With their backs against the wall, the Richmond Spiders responded with their best game of the season Tuesday night at the Robins Center, dispatching George Mason, which entered the game 21-3 and in second place in the A-10, 82-70 in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.
"I'm thrilled with how we played. I thought our energy and effort was great right from the jump," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney. "Tonight, we were certainly the aggressor."
Richmond shot out of the gate as junior guard Mikkel Tyne knocked down four three-pointers, his most in a game this season, in the game's first five-and-a-half minutes. Before some in the Robins Center had even settled into their seats, the Spiders had a 19-5 lead in large part to early 14 points from Tyne.
A breakaway dunk from AJ Lopez with 10:03 to play in the first half served as the exclamation point on a 12-0 Richmond run and forced a timeout from George Mason with the Spiders leading 31-9.
Richmond led 49-29 at halftime after shooting 58 percent from the field and 8-18 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. It was UR's most points in the first half of an Atlantic 10 game this season.
A three-pointer by Will Johnston with 7:57 remaining gave Richmond its largest lead of the game at 75-49. It was also UR's last field goal, as the Patriots managed to narrow their deficit at the foul line down the stretch while never seriously threatening UR. The win was Richmond's first in its last four meetings with George Mason and snapped Richmond's season-long six-game losing streak, which started after the Spiders defeated La Salle at home on January 14.
"The guys haven't wandered. The guys have been focused," said Mooney. "They've been in the gym. They've been watching the film. They've been doing the extra weightlifting. All those things have been positive. From the outside, it feels like 'well, you're doing everything wrong.' On the inside you might be doing a whole lot right but you just can't get the win."
The Spiders improved to 14-11 overall and 4-8 in Atlantic 10 play.
"When you haven't won in a while, it just starts to eat at you and it's easy to start to point fingers or question [other] guys, and our guys have not done that, to be honest with you," said Mooney. "Obviously everyone is frustrated but they have still worked and listened to the scouting report and made sure we're giving ourselves the best chance to win."
Tyne led UR with a season-high 16 points, all in the first half. AJ Lopez added 15 points, while Aiden Argabright scored 14 in his first game back after injuring his ankle in the second half against Davidson on January 31. Johnston was the final Spider in double figures with 10 points and added a team-high five assists.
Senior Jonathan Beagle provided a lift off the bench, chipping in six points and a team-high eight rebounds as UR worked to negate the Patriots' height advantage.
"Everybody that came in just seemed to, maybe not statistically, just gave us a spark," said Mooney. "We have some lineups out there where we're pretty small, but we battled on the backboard. We ran down some loose balls on the perimeter. We took two charges, which in today's game is really, really difficult to do."
This was the first meeting between the teams since last March, when George Mason edged Richmond 64-60 at the Robins Center to claim a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season title. Up next for the Spiders is the team Mason shared the A-10 title with: the VCU Rams.
UR will host its crosstown rival Saturday at 6 PM on CBS Sports Network in the Richmond Area Honda Dealers Capital City Classic.
"George Mason is a really, really good team. So to win a game like that, in that fashion, is great for us," said Mooney. "Now you just have to say 'ok, let's take a breath' and have a great opportunity here on Saturday night where it will be a great crowd and a great everything so hopefully we can play a really good game."
Limited tickets for Saturday's game are still available.
"I'm thrilled with how we played. I thought our energy and effort was great right from the jump," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney. "Tonight, we were certainly the aggressor."
Richmond shot out of the gate as junior guard Mikkel Tyne knocked down four three-pointers, his most in a game this season, in the game's first five-and-a-half minutes. Before some in the Robins Center had even settled into their seats, the Spiders had a 19-5 lead in large part to early 14 points from Tyne.
A breakaway dunk from AJ Lopez with 10:03 to play in the first half served as the exclamation point on a 12-0 Richmond run and forced a timeout from George Mason with the Spiders leading 31-9.
Richmond led 49-29 at halftime after shooting 58 percent from the field and 8-18 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. It was UR's most points in the first half of an Atlantic 10 game this season.
A three-pointer by Will Johnston with 7:57 remaining gave Richmond its largest lead of the game at 75-49. It was also UR's last field goal, as the Patriots managed to narrow their deficit at the foul line down the stretch while never seriously threatening UR. The win was Richmond's first in its last four meetings with George Mason and snapped Richmond's season-long six-game losing streak, which started after the Spiders defeated La Salle at home on January 14.
"The guys haven't wandered. The guys have been focused," said Mooney. "They've been in the gym. They've been watching the film. They've been doing the extra weightlifting. All those things have been positive. From the outside, it feels like 'well, you're doing everything wrong.' On the inside you might be doing a whole lot right but you just can't get the win."
The Spiders improved to 14-11 overall and 4-8 in Atlantic 10 play.
"When you haven't won in a while, it just starts to eat at you and it's easy to start to point fingers or question [other] guys, and our guys have not done that, to be honest with you," said Mooney. "Obviously everyone is frustrated but they have still worked and listened to the scouting report and made sure we're giving ourselves the best chance to win."
Tyne led UR with a season-high 16 points, all in the first half. AJ Lopez added 15 points, while Aiden Argabright scored 14 in his first game back after injuring his ankle in the second half against Davidson on January 31. Johnston was the final Spider in double figures with 10 points and added a team-high five assists.
Senior Jonathan Beagle provided a lift off the bench, chipping in six points and a team-high eight rebounds as UR worked to negate the Patriots' height advantage.
"Everybody that came in just seemed to, maybe not statistically, just gave us a spark," said Mooney. "We have some lineups out there where we're pretty small, but we battled on the backboard. We ran down some loose balls on the perimeter. We took two charges, which in today's game is really, really difficult to do."
This was the first meeting between the teams since last March, when George Mason edged Richmond 64-60 at the Robins Center to claim a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season title. Up next for the Spiders is the team Mason shared the A-10 title with: the VCU Rams.
UR will host its crosstown rival Saturday at 6 PM on CBS Sports Network in the Richmond Area Honda Dealers Capital City Classic.
"George Mason is a really, really good team. So to win a game like that, in that fashion, is great for us," said Mooney. "Now you just have to say 'ok, let's take a breath' and have a great opportunity here on Saturday night where it will be a great crowd and a great everything so hopefully we can play a really good game."
Limited tickets for Saturday's game are still available.
Team Stats
GMU
UR
FG%
.411
.474
3FG%
.235
.387
FT%
.667
.842
RB
41
30
TO
15
10
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
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F
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