UR aims to replay 2004 winning formula at KU
Coach Jerry Wainwright brought his University of Richmond team into Phog Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas for a day-before-game practice on the evening of Jan. 21, 2004.
The Spiders stared at the championship banners hanging in the 16,300-seat arena, and soaked in the environment of one of college basketball?s most famous venues.
That was OK by Wainwright, former UR forward Mike Skrocki recalled on Monday.
?He just kind of looked at us and said, ?Take a minute. Take it in.? It wasn?t one of those things like, ?Hey! Stop looking around. We?re here on business!?? Skrocki said.
?It was more of, ?Go ahead. I?ll give you a minute, and then we?ll get down to work.??
The Spiders responded the following evening with one of the most memorable and surprising victories in the program?s 100 seasons. They were 9-8, and had lost three of their previous four. KU was 11-2, and ranked No. 10. Guard Tony Dobbins hit a jumper in the lane at :01 to give Richmond a 69-68 win.
Another shot at a top-10 Kansas team (No. 9, 8-1) in Allen Fieldhouse comes tonight at 7 p.m., on ESPN2, for UR (9-2).
?People try to say, ?It?s just another game,? but with (16,300) Kansas Jayhawks fans doing their ?Rock Chalk Jayhawk? chant, it?s a lot different than the Robins Center or any A-10 gym we play in,? said Skrocki, who scored 23 to lead UR over KU.
Richmond was able to keep the game close with 3s, and the Jayhawks missed all four of their free throws in the final four minutes.
?They put on their shorts just like we do,? UR guard Darien Brothers said. ?We have to have that mental toughness going on the road. If we slip up, we just have to stay together, keep the young guys in the game, don?t let them get down on themselves, and just continue to pick up that energy and pressure.?
Richmond will try to replay the formula. In 2004, Kansas outscored Richmond 36-18 inside and outrebounded the Spiders 45-32. UR hit 10 3-pointers, with Skrocki converting four of them.
?The 3-point shot is the great neutralizer in the game,? Kansas coach Bill Self said after the upset, which snapped KU?s 52-game home winning streak against nonconference opposition.
The Spiders have made 38.8 percent of their 3s and hit about eight 3s per game. Brothers is 28 of 54 from 3-point distance (51.9 percent).
?I?m confident that we?ll defend, that we?ll be physical enough, but you need to make a couple of shots early,? UR coach Chris Mooney said. ?Hopefully, we?ll be able to get some easy ones to build your confidence, get to the free throw line.?
The 2004 win at Kansas helped Richmond earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. UR?s last trip to the NCAAs came in 2011 and was ended by second-ranked Kansas (77-57) in the Sweet 16.
Before that game, Mooney showed the Spiders video of the 2004 win at Kansas.
Given the result of the Sweet 16 meeting, ?I don?t know if we?re going to go back to that well,? Mooney said.
