Busting Brackets
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Richmond Basketball: 3 takeaways from stunning blowout to No. 11 West Virginia

By Benjamin Zacher

Dec 9, 2020; Richmond, Virginia, USA; Richmond Spiders guard Jacob Gilyard (0) dribbles the ball as Northern Iowa Panthers guard Bowen Born (13) defends in the first half at Robins Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2020; Richmond, Virginia, USA; Richmond Spiders guard Jacob Gilyard (0) dribbles the ball as Northern Iowa Panthers guard Bowen Born (13) defends in the first half at Robins Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Richmond Basketball
Richmond Basketball Chris Mooney Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Sunday afternoon’s top-25 showdown between Richmond Basketball and West Virginia produced one of the most lopsided – and shocking results – of the early weeks.

In one of the most stunning results of the opening weeks, the 11th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers dismantled 19th-ranked Richmond Basketball in Morgantown, 87-71.  That 16-point differential is not indicative of just how dominant the Mountaineers were in this game – they led by as much as 30 in the second half.

If there is one word to describe this game, it is simply: shocking.  This game was close early on when the Spiders trailed by just three (23-20) with eight minutes to go in the first half – but West Virginia embarked on a 29-10 run to take a 22-point advantage heading into halftime.

The story of this game – or of West Virginia’s first-half onslaught – was the uncharacteristic three-point shooting for the Mountaineers.  Entering this game, WVU was shooting 31.1% from beyond the arc – and averaged just 5.5 made three-pointers a game.  In the first half alone, the Mountaineers went 6-9 (66.7%) from long-range – and finished the game 8-14 (57.1%).

Obviously, this loss is incredibly disappointing for a Richmond team looking for a marquee victory.  Their early-season win over Kentucky has not aged particularly well, and they looked sluggish in close wins over Wofford and Northern Iowa since returning from a COVID-19 pause.  This game was a great opportunity to prove themselves against a team that posed similar offensive and defensive stats.

It is not like Richmond was awful when shooting in the first half, either.  Despite shooting woes from outside – something that has plagued them all season – the Spiders shot 42.3% (11-26) from the floor and were 7-8 from the line – a place West Virginia did not even get to in the first half.

But they obviously struggled defensively and had a number of issues offensively in trying to play fullcourt against West Virginia’s staunch defense.  They will not, most likely, meet a team as good as WVU in the Atlantic 10 – but they will need to clean it up and fix their issues before taking on teams like Saint Louis and URI.  From this game today, there are a few pressing issues they should take care of immediately.

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