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what a thrill it was to be at the Robins Center last night for the biggest Richmond home court win in what seems like years...the house was rocking from start to finish...after stumbling out of the gate this special Spiders team battled Dayton on both ends of the court before finally taking home the hard earned win...

the physical and mental toughness of these guys is something Richmond fans haven't seen too much of over the years...the confidence is super high as it should be...you can see it so well in the offensive sets...they know they someone is going to make a winning play...last night King, Bigelow, Bailey, Hunt and Quinn, as well as, reserves Walz, Roche, and Harris all made plays that characterize winning basketball teams...

by now I'm sure most Spiders fans have enjoyed professional highlights of last night great moments...I've tried to include a few of the key defensive stops, spectacular rebounds and clutch FTs, as well as, Jordan King one on one versus DaRon Holmes for the bucket...if you make it to the end the joy of victory is very visible as the court is stormed by UR students...I'm glad I got to see it again!

ha! finally, I hope the guy from the GW game was watching Quinn on TV, or in the Robins Center...he went to the bucket often and did a great job on Holmes!

this team has now proven it can play with the best in the A-10...now comes the next challenge, wearing the bullseye on our backs...I have no doubt these guys can handle it...they've convinced me!

Go Spiders!

IMO he is the reason why the Spiders can beat Dayton Sat and have a special season.
He is one on those rare players that has the swagger and confidence, and can come through.
King has something imo, that no other player has had since Ive been watching, and thats, take over the game, this is my shit confidence. Gilly had the swagger without the shot, imo.
King takes over the game and he thrives on it.
Im excited to see where he take this team.

I like looking at their site because they use a lot of opinions instead of just 1, and have been pretty accurate over the years. 33 of the 84 brackets used has us in the dance, which puts us as the 3rd team out. This site also gives you a pretty good idea of who the other bubble teams are that we are competing with.

72-62 Spiders

Poll

1. Richmond – 33 (4)
2. Saint Joseph's – 31 (2)
T-3. High Point – 21
T-3. Massachusetts – 21
5. Hobart – 14
6. St. Bonaventure – 6

Number in parenthesis denotes first-place votes

Atlantic 10 Men's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference Team

ATTACK
Dalton Young, Richmond
Levi Anderson, Saint Joseph's
Carter Page, Saint Joseph's

MIDFIELD
Nick Rizzo, High Point
Lance Madonna, Richmond
Matt Bohmen, Saint Joseph's

DEFENSE
Hunter Smith, Richmond
Patrick Clemens, Saint Joseph's
Levi Verch, Saint Joseph's

FACE OFF SPECIALIST
Caleb Hammett, Massachusetts

LONG STICK MIDFIELDER
Tommy Stull, Richmond

GOALKEEPER
Matt Knote, Massachusetts

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2020 odds of beating OBI were so damn hard -odds of winning this game is much better - spiders 74-73

This stinks. The NIT will be opened to more teams from P5 conferences. Even if UR wins the regular season and loses the A10 tournament, it could be shut out of the NIT.

For the 2024 NIT, conference regular season champions that do not win their conference tournament or are not otherwise selected to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship will not receive an automatic bid to the NIT. Instead, the NIT will guarantee two teams (based on the NET rankings) from each of six conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern). The top two teams in the NET rankings not qualifying for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament from each conference, regardless of won-loss record, will be selected. Additionally, the 12 teams automatically selected will be guaranteed the opportunity to host a game in the first round of the NIT.

Tons of good observations and reflections in the game thread but here are a few of mine.

1. Our defense makes other teams play our game. Dayton is a Top 20 team and their offense was completely disrupted for 40 mintues by our defense. Our guys (every single one) works so hard on defense to work off of screens and cuts and stay in front of their man. Simply outstanding and it has to be so frustrating for the other team to not be able to establish any rhythm.
2. Holmes: We reduced the a 6'10 national player of the year candidate to shooting 3's from 30 feet. Again, our defense--elite. Was he scared of Quinn or something?
3. Two front-runners for A-10 POY head to head: Holmes is probably still in the lead but King certainly got the best of him yesterday. And if you are looking for a statement play POY its King hitting the game sealing bucket over Holmes.
4. Player of the game: Entire starting 5. They all made big plays at key times and I think every player had a nice counterpunch on offense every time Dayton made a bucket. But if I had to name one player it is Dji Bailey. His defense is elite and he made big play after big play all game long. He picked up big fouls with his drives on Santos and Holmes and the dunks were emphatic statements. Such a swiss army knife of good plays on both ends.
5. D-Lo: I think it has been underappreciated how good he is and such an unselfish compliment to King. He made some huge plays, the step back 3, the drive to the hole and 1 in the second half. Have to wonder what our record is, if he doesn't get hurt.
6. Bigs 15 rebounds. Are you serious?

Electric atmosphere, students were awesome. When full the Robins Center is an intimidating place to play our home court. This team is really good but what makes them special to me is they work their ass*s off the entire game and they carry themselves with a confidence level that I think is intimidating to play against. Every time, it seems a team makes a big play on us, we answer immediately.

The 15 point 1st half against Dayton might be the best defensive effort by the Spiders during a half in the history of the program when you consider it was against a 16th ranked team. There possibly might have been other halfs with less points before the shot clock was added or against much less talented teams. Not only are our 5 starters outstanding defenders, but also our subs. Tyne is glued to the player he is guarding, Harris is quick and strong and Roche might be playing better on D than A.

Jumping ahead a few weeks here, but hoping some on this board may able to help me. I'm looking to go to the game at VCU on 2/3 as I'll be in the area that weekend and don't get to go to games anymore since I moved away. It seems like the only way to get tickets officially from VCU is to purchase a 5-game plan, which obviously isn't going to work for me. There are a decent amount of tickets on Stubhub/SeatGeek which seem to be fairly pricey ($90 for the cheapest seats and $150+ for anything decent). I hope that more tickets at better rates might be available as we get closer, but I've never tried to go to this game so I realize that may just be what the prices will look like.

Has anyone had success with a particular method or have any other thoughts for me? Thanks in advance.

Let's get back on the winning side of things, ladies! Keep this magical season going! GO SPIDERS!

Both teams struggled for the first third of the game, but all of a sudden Duquesne has started hitting and has opened up a 10 point lead as the first half winds down. Spiders better get it together if the streak is going to continue.

The students added so much by being out in force, being fired up, and showing so much spirit! Storming the court after the buzzer added to the atmosphere. And for every fan the Sweet Caroline rendition was one of the best in recent years in keeping the excitement at a high pitch. Don't know the whole formula for keeping the students coming out in droves, but thank you students for definitely being instrumental in the win! Please come to the games consistently. College is all about students ......both current and former...............

I think this deserves it own thread. Bigelow at 6-7 leads the A10 in rebounding during conference play. This is pretty incredible and is a testament to his athleticism, toughness, aggressiveness and desire to win.

Rebounding​

Individual Rebounding

I started a new thread so it didn't get buried in the game thread. I'd like to see that one again.

The Spiders are 6-1 versus Top 25 teams at the Robins Center going back to 2009. I believe the only loss was to Dayton.

King - awesome. Star player potential. Handle and shot both look legit, he could finish at the rim and he was 6-6 at the line. Loved everything I saw.
Hunt - mostly good, with exception of 1-5 from 3 and 3 misses at FT line. Was all over the court. Fearless and brought the energy.
Noyes - played in control, hit 2 threes, skied for some boards and overall didn't press, let the game come to him. Hope he begins to assert himself and gain confidence.
Bigelow - similar to last year - looks great at times, invisible others. Should never shoot a 3 when not squared or when moving laterally at all. His feet are way to close together on the jump and he drifts. Surprisingly was the first sub out (for Dji) as Moon went smallish against a small VMI team. Will be needed against bigger/more athletic teams.
Quinn - exactly what we need from him. Some points, lots of boards, good passing and to just be a vertical presence against smaller guys while not fouling. Made good decisions all game.
Bailey - looked like he played with much more confidence. Defensively was impressive and was aggressive on offense. Gotta finish those layups/follows and make the FTs but a great start for him.
Roche - 2-5 from three, and 3-4 from line. What we expect and why we want him to get shots.
Tyne - looked legit. Definitely in the KA0 mold but I felt confident that he'd be secure with the ball and make good decisions. Need to see more of his offensive game and if he can not get exploited defensively, because - like most of our guards - he's small.
Walz - Seemed improved, some okay stretches of play. 2 turnovers again an issue and he didn't run back on one of them even with a 8 foot lead the guy beat him downcourt for a dunk.
Soulis - skinny and raw but his blocked shot was nice.
Harris - Spiders were up 26 when he came in so tough to gauge his play. Looks like a slightly heavier version of Bigelow. May need him against bigger teams, VMI was not it.
Smith - A little skinnier than I expected, another small guard. Nice steal, but dribbled one off his foot out of bounds and jumper was a bit funky. Need to see more.
Tanner - couldn't tell much, didn't touch ball much in his 4+ minutes.
Graham - looked kind of confident with the ball, bigger than I expected he'd be.
Southall / Weaver - good for them.

Great win, no doubter. Having a lead guard who might be a star is exciting, especially if Moon lets them play and the tempo and pace stay quick. Defense needs to be better overall on the perimeter. We clearly will go for lots of steals but the counter to that is open looks.

Oh yeah oh yeah …. Working to 6-0 and the biggest game at Robins this century - keep me honest …

We are fortunate to have had two very good point guards play for UR, within such a short time period. Both had tremendous impacts on their respective teams. Both were leaders. Both were outstanding players. They even resembled each other. It has been a joy to watch them play.

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I have been watching Spiders basketball live for over 50 years and there have only been a handful of players and individual performances like the one Jordan King launched late in last night's first half and finished at crunch time for the win...maybe Aron Stewart a few times...McCurdy was a remarkable scorer, but a grinder...many of our outstanding history of guards, Atkinson, Anderson, Anthony, Jones and Gilyard may have had a handful of these types of games, but none put together a season like King is building...

it was electric and had this fan just shaking his head and wondering what would come next...the Robins Center went crazy in the run that got us back in the game at the half...

and how about Isaiah Bigelow?...what an outstanding game!...he just keeps getting better...

finally the Spiders defense looks like it's for real...the Revolutionaries shot only 38% FG and a meager 21% 3FG in the deciding second half....

as many have said these Spiders look different, play different and the results have been outstanding...I think we're still getting better...a team that continues to improve as the season progresses is usually a sign that the coaching staff is doing something right!

may this team join the ranks of the regular season version of the "Giant Killers" on Saturday...good times!

Go Spiders!

Clearly got to focus on DUQ 1st but going ahead and starting this thread since I bought my tix this morning. If others are considering going since pretty easy drive from RVA and I know some folks on the forum live in the Carolinas, there are single game tix directly on the Davidson site - including a good many right behind Spiders bench in Section 8 for relatively reasonable prices and nominal fees versus Stubhub. I'm 1-0 in Steph arena - saw us win in Jan 2020 before COVID.

Is anyone watching? At half down 5

UR, 5-0 (half game behind 1st place Dayton) hosts GW 3-2 ( tied with URI for 5th place) is the only men’s game between teams in a10 top 8. After the GW game, UR has only 5 games remaining against top 8 teams. All other top 8 teams will have 6-8 games remaining between current top 8.

Doubleheader-
Women @home directly following the Men's game @Davidson. Go Spiders!