Halftime Turnaround Not Enough for Spiders vs VCU

Saturday, February 14

Robins Center

6:00 PM

University of Richmond

14-12,4-9Atlantic 10

VCU

20-6,11-2Atlantic 10

VCU

Richmond

An overhead shot of AJ Lopez making a layup over two VCU defenders

02/14/2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — A fierce rally and fiery crowd wasn't enough to pull the Spiders out of the sizable hole they dug themselves at home vs VCU Saturday, as the Rams prevailed 78-67 in the Richmond Area Honda Dealers Capital City Classic. The Spiders narrowed a 23-point second-half deficit to as few as two in the game's final minutes, but VCU bounced back to win its fourth straight game in the series and secured its 20th win of the season.

"I think we battled and fought, but if you're in such a deficit then you have to do everything really, really well," said Spider coach Chris Mooney. "I don't want to say we didn't come out with energy or play hard, but there is an extra level of it that is needed at this level. It is frustrating and it's something we need to continue to work on. As coaches, that's the very first thing we'll talk about this evening."

With 18:21 to play, VCU drained its second straight three-pointer to push its lead to 53-30. With 6:06 to play, Spiders guard AJ Lopez gathered an outlet pass from Aiden Argabright and slipped past a pair of VCU defenders for a lay-up that narrowed UR's deficit to 64-62 and sent the Spiders home crowd into a frenzy. In between the two plays, Richmond had two separate 11-0 runs and outscored the Rams 32-11.

But the Rams followed Lopez's layup with a 14-5 run over the remainder of the game, holding UR to 1-9 from the field down the stretch. The defining sequence in that span saw VCU's Terrence Hill Jr. hit a three-pointer with 1:55 remaining after a Rams timeout, which immediately followed two missed free throws by the Spiders that could have cut VCU's lead to 69-67. Instead, the Rams went ahead by seven and were able to add to their lead at the foul line in the final minutes.

"It was a nice play. We had not seen that and they executed it perfectly," said Mooney of the play that led to Hill's three-pointer.

Will Johnston led Richmond with 17 points, going 4-8 from three-point range. But the rest of the Spiders combined to shoot just 1-14 from deep.

"Some night I'll score more. Some nights it will be play-making," said Johnston. "Tonight, I just felt like I was open."

Johnston was joined in double figures by Lopez, who scored 14 and added a team-high three assists, and Mike Walz, who finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

VCU dominated the first half, outscoring Richmond 47-27 and holding Richmond to just 5-25 from the field (20%). More half of UR's points in the opening half (15 of 27) came from the free-throw line.

"They switch on a lot of things, and when you have one tall, long athletic guy switching on from another tall, long athletic guy, it can keep you out of the lane and I thought that really happened in the first half," said Mooney. "I felt like their aggression combined with their athleticism made it difficult for us in the first half."

Richmond is now 14-12 on the season and 4-9 in Atlantic 10 play. The Spiders will visit Davidson for a midweek matchup on Wednesday at 7 PM on ESPN Plus.