UR hasn't left town in nearly 2 months, but Philly trips loom
They haven't played outside of Richmond's city limits since Nov. 24.
That stretch for the University of Richmond's Spiders included five home games in which they went 4-1, and a loss at Virginia Commonwealth. Now we'll see if UR can take momentum on two trips to Philadelphia. Richmond (7-6) begins its Atlantic 10 Conference schedule tomorrow (noon tipoff) at La Salle (4-8), then plays at Saint Joseph's (7-4) on Saturday night.
"I think we should be very confident," said third-year Spiders coach Chris Mooney, whose team was picked in preseason to finish 12th among 14 in the A-10. "We have some wins under our belt here against some very, very good teams. Sometimes there's a false confidence, but I think this one is earned."
Richmond comes off last Thursday's 52-49 win over Virginia Tech, the first ACC team UR conquered since John Beilein in his opening game at Richmond (Nov. 16, 1997) coached the Spiders to a victory over Virginia at the Robins Center. In between, Richmond lost 13 consecutive to ACC opposition (0-8 vs. Wake Forest, 0-3 vs. Virginia, 0-1 vs. North Carolina, and a loss at Virginia Tech).
TOUGHEN UP: In three straight UR wins, (Old Dominion, VMI, Virginia Tech), the Spiders demonstrated newfound aggressiveness as defenders and rebounders.
"I think there was kind of a reputation getting around that we were soft," said sophomore guard David Gonzalvez. "Coach immediately wanted to change that, and [the players] immediately wanted to change that. We started practicing a lot harder, putting the emphasis on rebounding and toughness and loose balls and taking charges, more that kind of stuff than skill.
"I think that's had a lot to do with our success lately."
TIGHT NIGHTS: Ten of Richmond's 13 games have been decided by six or fewer points. In eight of them, the spread was three or fewer.
"I'm not going to live quite as long, but I do feel that [gives UR] bit of an advantage," Mooney said. "I think we are calm . . . Having been challenged so much and having played in those close games has helped us."
FRESH PUSH: Most notable in Richmond's resurgence after three straight losing seasons has been the input of three freshmen: 5-11 Kevin Anderson, 6-5 Kevin Smith and 6-9 Justin Harper, who is from Meadowbrook High. Richmond is 6-0 when 18 or more minutes are played by Smith, limited earlier this season by a high ankle sprain.
"We finally are developing a basketball culture here where the young guys can come in and flourish a little bit because there is some substance in the classes ahead of them, and because those guys can kind of point [the freshmen] in the right direction," Mooney said.
Ten of 13 scholarship players are freshmen or sophomores, and those two classes are responsible for 79.2 percent of Richmond's scoring.
NOTES: Tomorrow's noon tipoff is part of a LaSalle promotion involving elementary-school students and also is designed to draw downtown workers on their lunch breaks. La Salle's students are on semester break until next week. . . . In the AP poll released yesterday, three Atlantic 10 teams are ranked: Dayton (17), Rhode Island (22) and Xavier (24). That's the first time three A-10 teams have been ranked since March 2003. . . . UR, one win shy of last season's victory total, plays only A-10 games the remainder of its regular season.
They haven't played outside of Richmond's city limits since Nov. 24.
That stretch for the University of Richmond's Spiders included five home games in which they went 4-1, and a loss at Virginia Commonwealth. Now we'll see if UR can take momentum on two trips to Philadelphia. Richmond (7-6) begins its Atlantic 10 Conference schedule tomorrow (noon tipoff) at La Salle (4-8), then plays at Saint Joseph's (7-4) on Saturday night.
"I think we should be very confident," said third-year Spiders coach Chris Mooney, whose team was picked in preseason to finish 12th among 14 in the A-10. "We have some wins under our belt here against some very, very good teams. Sometimes there's a false confidence, but I think this one is earned."
Richmond comes off last Thursday's 52-49 win over Virginia Tech, the first ACC team UR conquered since John Beilein in his opening game at Richmond (Nov. 16, 1997) coached the Spiders to a victory over Virginia at the Robins Center. In between, Richmond lost 13 consecutive to ACC opposition (0-8 vs. Wake Forest, 0-3 vs. Virginia, 0-1 vs. North Carolina, and a loss at Virginia Tech).
TOUGHEN UP: In three straight UR wins, (Old Dominion, VMI, Virginia Tech), the Spiders demonstrated newfound aggressiveness as defenders and rebounders.
"I think there was kind of a reputation getting around that we were soft," said sophomore guard David Gonzalvez. "Coach immediately wanted to change that, and [the players] immediately wanted to change that. We started practicing a lot harder, putting the emphasis on rebounding and toughness and loose balls and taking charges, more that kind of stuff than skill.
"I think that's had a lot to do with our success lately."
TIGHT NIGHTS: Ten of Richmond's 13 games have been decided by six or fewer points. In eight of them, the spread was three or fewer.
"I'm not going to live quite as long, but I do feel that [gives UR] bit of an advantage," Mooney said. "I think we are calm . . . Having been challenged so much and having played in those close games has helped us."
FRESH PUSH: Most notable in Richmond's resurgence after three straight losing seasons has been the input of three freshmen: 5-11 Kevin Anderson, 6-5 Kevin Smith and 6-9 Justin Harper, who is from Meadowbrook High. Richmond is 6-0 when 18 or more minutes are played by Smith, limited earlier this season by a high ankle sprain.
"We finally are developing a basketball culture here where the young guys can come in and flourish a little bit because there is some substance in the classes ahead of them, and because those guys can kind of point [the freshmen] in the right direction," Mooney said.
Ten of 13 scholarship players are freshmen or sophomores, and those two classes are responsible for 79.2 percent of Richmond's scoring.
NOTES: Tomorrow's noon tipoff is part of a LaSalle promotion involving elementary-school students and also is designed to draw downtown workers on their lunch breaks. La Salle's students are on semester break until next week. . . . In the AP poll released yesterday, three Atlantic 10 teams are ranked: Dayton (17), Rhode Island (22) and Xavier (24). That's the first time three A-10 teams have been ranked since March 2003. . . . UR, one win shy of last season's victory total, plays only A-10 games the remainder of its regular season.
