With chants of “We believe” raining down from the pro-Morehead State portion of the crowd, the Eagles took the court Saturday afternoon at the Pepsi Center. Kenneth Faried pulled his long dreadlocks back into a ponytail. Game time.
Richmond’s crowd was considerably more subdued, almost businesslike. The Richmond players mimicked that attitude, finishing off Morehead State 65-48 in almost clinical fashion.
There never could be two Cinderellas. One had to go.
There were no big off-court celebrations after 12th-seeded Richmond defeated 13th-seeded Morehead State, even though the victory sent the Spiders to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in school history.
Part of the reason was the comfortable margin of victory. Part of the reason was something this team has become accustomed to — high expectations.
“We’re in this tournament to win it all,” Richmond guard Kevin Anderson said. “That’s our goal.”
They are one step closer to doing just that after slowing down Faried and stopping the Morehead State perimeter attack.
MSU’s Terrence Hill, who scored 23 points and made nearly every clutch shot down the stretch in the Eagles’ upset win over Louisville on Thursday, was held to 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting. He was 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
Asked the key to the game, Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall said, “Them making us take challenged shots from the perimeter.”
Richmond was just a better team in all phases. Sometimes it’s as simple as that, and on this day, it was. The Spiders led from the start and kept a comfortable margin throughout until blowing it open late.
Justin Harper scored 19 points to lead Richmond, and Anderson chipped in 14 as Richmond had little trouble dissecting the Eagles’ zone.
“It was kind of difficult to guard them because they have five shooters on the floor,” MSU’s Demonte Harper said. “Each guy can shoot it from every spot. They did a good job of spacing our zone out, getting it to the high post, kicking back out and knocking down high-post shots.”
Richmond’s game plan against the 6-foot-10 Faried was basic and effective. Double-team him, cut off his closest passing options and keep big bodies on him. It worked to a T. Faried worked hard to get 11 points and 13 rebounds, but he never was able to dominate inside as he did against Louisville two nights earlier.
Richmond got contributions from all over the court.
Center Dan Geriot, who did not score in the Spiders’ second-round win over Vanderbilt, cashed in myriad midrange jump shots and finished with 13 points. Darien Brothers provided ball handling and 3-point punch. He was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
“We are thrilled to be advancing to the Sweet 16,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our players and our program.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
