Never will it be known if the University of Richmond would have followed through with its peppy rally.
Known is the Spiders’ comeback from a 22-point deficit in the second half of Tuesday night’s VCU visit to the Robins Center stopped — as did a large portion of the rising home crowd support — when the difference was cut to nine and UR coach Chris Mooney drew a technical foul with 4:22 left.
Mooney thought there should have been a Ram foul called on a Dusan Neskovic drive in heavy traffic. The graduate forward from Dartmouth has converted 35 consecutive free throws. Had a foul on VCU been called, UR likely would have trailed 63-56, and been on a 15-0, momentum-building run.
University of Richmond coach Chris Mooney said he was “surprised there was no call, and then I was surprised there was a technical foul called in that situation.”
Mooney objected to the no-call and was whistled for the ‘T’. VCU added two points on Max Shulga’s technical foul shots for an 11-point advantage, increased the lead to 13 on a Joe Bamisile bucket and won 78-60 before 6,420 at UR’s arena.
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Mooney said after the game that he apologized to his team for drawing the technical foul, and Neskovic had his coach’s back.
“That play came really fast, and coach is a passionate guy, cares a lot about basketball,” said the 6-foot-8 Neskovic, who scored a team-high 16, with four assists, against VCU. “That (technical foul) just came as a result of a really strong will to win.”
In his postgame comments, Mooney said he was “surprised there was no call, and then I was surprised there was a technical foul called in that situation.”
University of Richmond graduate forward Dusan Neskovic said of the late-game technical assessed to Spiders coach Chris Mooney in Tuesday's VCU game: "Coach is a passionate guy, cares a lot about basketball ... That just came as a result of a really strong will to win.”
Perhaps the Spiders would not have caught the Rams, who have several backcourt veterans, led by the savvy Shulga, who have many times successfully participated in tight, late-game situations in loud opponents’ arenas. But that will forever be a mystery.
Another slow Spiders start
In UR’s past five games, it trailed VCU 19-8 and 24-10, Saint Joseph’s 23-9 in a 78-62 loss, La Salle 21-14 in a 63-58 win, Fordham 14-4 in a 70-66 win, and Loyola Chicago 21-7 in an 87-80 overtime loss. The Spiders allowed 51 VCU points in the first half, in which Richmond scored 33.
“We’ve got to figure out how to start off the first few minutes much better with more intensity like we did in the second half,” Neskovic said. “I think that’s going to be the key moving forward.”
Mooney said the Spiders will examine ways “to just try to start the game in a more aggressive manner, whether that’s something coming from an X’s and O’s standpoint, or something that we do defensively. That has been an issue.
“We’ve significantly improved offensively, I believe, but we still really have not made a high percentage of shots, especially at the beginning of the game ... If we’re just making a few of ours (early), then it doesn’t feel quite as bad of a start. So there’s a little bit of offense that we could do a little bit better, and then maybe some aggressiveness that we could introduce defensively earlier that maybe could help us get off to better start.”
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3-point pain
The Rams hit 10 of 15 3-point attempts in the first half and finished 11 of 24 on 3s.
“Obviously when any team shoots like that, they’re going to have a tremendous chance to win the game,” Mooney said.
In UR’s past 10 games, it has allowed 10 or more 3s seven times. Richmond allowed 15 3s in the Saturday loss at Saint Joseph’s. Among 15 A-10 teams, the Spiders rank No. 14 in defending 3-pointers (opponents have hit 35%, and that’s No. 272 among 355 Division I teams).
The Spiders (10-19, 5-11 A-10) on Saturday at 2 p.m. visit Dayton (18-9, 8-6).
PHOTOS: UR men's basketball vs. VCU
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VCU guard Max Shulga chased University of Richmond guard B. Artis White at the Robins Center Tuesday night.
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VCU’s Max Shulga shoots a 3-pointer over Richmond’s B. Artis White during the Rams’ Atlantic 10 victory at the Robins Center. Shulga hit all three of his 3-point attempts and led VCU with 16 points. The Rams hit nine of their first 13 attempts from beyond the arc and 11 of 24 (45.8%) for the game.
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After being named first-team all-Atlantic 10 last year in his first season at VCU, Max Shulga appears poised to take that to the next level and earn conference player-of-the-year honors this season. The versatile Shulga averages 15.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals. He also makes 43.8% of his 3-point attempts, which is tied for the best in the A-10.
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University of Richmond center Mike Walz and VCU forward Luke Bamgboye tipped off at the Robins Center Tuesday night.
Neskovic
John O’Connor (804) 649-6233
John O'Connor
University of Richmond and Richmond Flying Squirrels Reporter
