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Richmond Basketball: 3 takeaways from away upset victory over Kentucky

By Adam Bernstein

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 13: Grant Golden #33 of the Richmond Spiders reacts against the Fordham Rams in the second half during the first game of the Atlantic 10 2019 tournament at the Barclays Center on March 13, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Richmond Spiders defeated the Fordham Rams 52-50. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 13: Grant Golden #33 of the Richmond Spiders reacts against the Fordham Rams in the second half during the first game of the Atlantic 10 2019 tournament at the Barclays Center on March 13, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Richmond Spiders defeated the Fordham Rams 52-50. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Richmond Basketball
Richmond Basketball Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports /

Richmond Basketball crawled into Rupp Arena in Kentucky with aspirations of a victory on their mind and they were able to do just that.

Richmond Basketball projected to finish first by the Atlantic 10 preseason rankings. This huge resume-boosting win over No.10 ranked Kentucky will only help their chances. Kentucky coach John Calipari has just a few days to get his team ready to face #6 ranked Kansas on the road. So, what did we learn from Richmond’s impressive win?

The Spiders are a deep, veteran team which is a reason we should remember this club come March. Coach Chris Mooney started four seniors all of who showed experience and determination entering this ball game. They trailed at halftime, 32-38, but outscored Kentucky in the second half by 16 points.

The Spiders began pulling away with 12 minutes left but, managed to keep the game close all the way through. Four of the five starters put up double-digit points. Nathan Cayo had 18 points, Blake Francis also put up 18 points, Grant Golden had 13 points, and Tyler Burton added 11 points.

The Wildcats struggled shooting as they missed all 10 of their three-point attempts.  Although they were able to force fouls and get to the charity stripe, they shot just 60.6 percent from the line.

Overall, they shot 36.1 percent from the field going 22-of-61. Freshman Brandon Boston Jr. led Kentucky scorers with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Olivier Sarr had 17 points. The Wildcats are going to need to improve their shooting as they prepare for the Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday.

The Spiders were able to take advantage of the defensive and shooting struggles from Kentucky and come out with a huge upset. This marks the first time in program history for the Spiders to pull out a win over an AP Top 10 ranked team. With that, here are three takeaways from the Spiders’ victory.

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