Atlantic 10 Basketball: Bonnies on top heading into conference tournament

5. Richmond Spiders

• 2020-21 record: 13-7 overall, 6-5 A-10
• Previous ranking: 5th

The 2020-21 season has not gone as planned for the Spiders, to say the least.  Gone are the at-large aspirations and national recognition that came with Richmond’s November 29th romp of Kentucky, and now, the Spiders must win the Atlantic 10 Tournament to reach March Madness.

The final nail in Richmond’s already-narrow at-large coffin came after the Spiders returned from an early February pause.  After throttling Div. III St. Mary’s, the Spiders dropped a must-win on the road to VCU, got past Duquesne and UMass, and proceeded to drop back-to-back regular-season closers at Saint Louis and – most significantly – Saint Joseph’s at home.

Richmond has earned some stellar individual performances in the back-to-back losses.  Against the Billikens, Blake Francis poured in 24 points behind six three-pointers, while Nathan Cayo went 11-21 for 25 points in the loss to Saint Joseph’s.  Unfortunately, there are not many more positives for the Spiders after that – and now, Richmond will have to move forward while dealing with a back injury that Francis suffered during the game with the Hawks.

Richmond has now dropped as low as the 8th-seed and will face a Duquesne team that lost to the Spiders by just seven a week and a half ago.  A win will send Richmond to a rematch with the St. Bonaventure Bonnies – the team that claimed what was projected to be Richmond’s spot as the A-10 regular-season champion.