Richmond Basketball: 3 keys for Spiders to upset No. 11 West Virginia

1. One of WVU’s biggest weaknesses so far into the season has been their proneness to foul trouble

If a team hopes to knock off West Virginia, they need to eliminate their greatest asset: their post play.  The Mountaineers are not stellar shooters whatsoever – they rank 196th in 3P% (31.1%) and 264th in 2P% (43.3%).  Their overall shooting clip of 39.9% ranks at 259th.

West Virginia’s issue is that they rely so much on two-pointers because they do not feature a marquee sharpshooter.  The most three-pointers a Mountaineer has made so far this season is 10 – for Taz Sherman (10-21) and Sean McNeil (10-35).  The Mountaineers take just 17.7 three-pointers a game – compared to 47.0 two-pointers, the 10th-highest mark in Div. I.

Contrarily, the two-man game of posts Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe has been West Virginia’s key to success since last season.  They comprised one of the best frontcourts in college basketball last year and entered this season with similar expectations.  Tshiebwe, for the most part, has been underwhelming (7.7 ppg after 11.2 last year), but Culver has been the go-to, averaging 14.5 points.

With his position as the go-to guy, Culver has been responsible for most of WVU’s shots, taking at least 12 a game – all from inside the arc.  Tshiebwe takes 6.3 a game from inside, while Gabe Osabuohien – the duo’s primary backup and a defensive force – takes nearly three shots within the arc.

The issue for West Virginia is that they are, essentially, the only three posts they play – and that has turned into a liability for them.  Tshiebwe and Osabuohien, notably, have fallen victim to being in foul trouble routinely – the former has fouled out once and played in three other games with three or more fouls.  Osabuohien, meanwhile, has also fouled out in one game – and played in four games with four fouls.

Culver has been smarter, having not yet fouled out – but has been occasionally plagued with foul trouble, picking up at least three fouls on four occasions.  But this has been a real issue for a team that does not have much depth at all inside.

But this is a problem for a Richmond team that, four games into the season, has not been all that physical inside.  They have drawn 64 fouls on the season, and their big man Grant Golden – an exceptionally talented offensive weapon – is not a strongly-built post like Culver.  Per 40 minutes, Golden draws 4.5 fouls a game – for context, Culver, in that same scenario, draws 6.2.

Richmond feasts inside the arc, shooting a 34th-best 57.2% on two-pointers – and they could match, if not excel, that percentage if they can keep one or two of Culver, Tshiebwe, and/or Osabuohien out of the game.  Their guard play should be enough to match that of WVU – but the inside game will be the key.