UofR Beats VCU in Friday Night A10 Matchup – Photos and Game Summary

Official UofR Game Summary

Behind a record-breaking night from Jacob Gilyard, the sixth-seeded Richmond Spiders defeated the third-seeded VCU Rams, 75-64, Friday night at Capital One Arena to advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals.

The Spiders advance to the A-10 semifinals for the sixth time and the first time since 2017, and will face No. 2 seed Dayton Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

“I’m really proud of our guys. We played physically and with tremendous energy and passion,” said head coach Chris Mooney. “I thought our defense was terrific. We forced turnovers, came up with lose balls, and rebounded the ball. Obviously, Jacob [Gilyard] was incredible and that was one of the great performances by a Richmond guard. I’m really proud of our guys and looking forward to tomorrow’s game.”

Gilyard paced all scorers in the game with a career-high 32 points, which set the Richmond record for points scored in an A-10 tournament game, previously held by Darien Brothers (31 points, 2012). With his second steal of the night, Gilyard also broke his own school record of steals in a single season. He finished his night with four steals for a current season-total of 102.

Additionally, with seven triples on the night, Gilyard tied the Richmond record for 3-pointers in a single season, with 85. He shot 7-of-12 beyond the arc and 9-of-17 from the field alongside a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.

After trailing by as many as six in the first half, a pullup triple from Gilyard at 8:11 narrowed the gap to one point, at 17-16. He would later post eight straight points as part of a 10-0 Richmond run to give the Spiders a 31-24 lead at 2:29 in the first half. The lead reached 10 points on another Gilyard trey in the closing minute of the half. The Spiders would never trail again in the game.

VCU opened the second half on a 9-1 run to even the score at 38-38, but Gilyard immediately answered with a 3-pointer that sparked a 7-0 run to push Richmond’s lead back out to 45-38. The lead reached as high as 14 points at 63-49 with 4:33 left in the game, and the Spiders took advantage of trips to the line down the stretch, hitting nine free throws in the last minute.

Tyler Burton posted 14 points and led the Spiders on the glass with eight rebounds, while Nathan Cayo and Andre Gustavson rounded out the Spiders in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The win was Richmond’s first over VCU in an A-10 Tournament. The Spiders entered the night 0-3 all-time vs the Rams at the A-10 Men’s Basketball Championship.

Official VCU Game Summary

Score: No. 6 Richmond 75, No. 3 VCU 64
Location: Washington, D.C. (Capital One Arena)
Records: VCU 21-9, Richmond 21-12
Schedule Note: Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals

The short story: VCU and Richmond were tied at 38-38 early in the second half before the Spiders built a 14-point lead that the Rams were unable to overcome.

OPENING TIP

• Senior forward Vince Williams Jr. scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds
• KeShawn Curry had 14 points and five rebounds, shooting an efficient 5-of-8 from the field
• Ace Baldwin Jr. was the third Ram in double figures with 12 points and a team-high seven assists
• The Rams shot 49 percent from the floor while the Spiders shot 43 percent
• Jacob Gilyard scored 32 points and shot 7-of-12 from 3-point range

THE DIFFERENCE

• Richmond went 26-of-32 at the free throw line while the Rams shot just 6-of-9. The Spiders were 20-of-23 from the charity strip in the second half while VCU was 4-of-7
• The Spiders shot 47 percent (9-of-19) from 3-point range, the highest shooting percentage by a VCU opponent this season. VCU shot just 8-of-22 from behind the arc
• VCU and Richmond battled back-and-forth early and the Rams held a 24-21 lead with 4:55 before halftime after a Levi Stockard jumper
• The Spiders responded with a 16-3 run to go up 37-27 and led the Rams 37-29 at the half wi
• VCU started the second half on a 9-1 run and tied the game 38-38 on a Williams 3-pointer with 16:30 remaining
• The Spiders pushed their lead to 63-49 with 4:33 left before a late VCU rally cut it to 66-61 with 1:09 left. The Rams were unable to get any closer in the loss

NOTABLE

• Williams reached double figures in scoring for the 20^th time this season and 41^st time in his career
• VCU is now 15-8 all-time in the Atlantic 10 Tournament

NEXT UP
VCU awaits its postseason fate on Sunday evening.