Times wires
Saturday, March 19, 2011
DENVER — The program that made its reputation bouncing Charles Barkley and Jim Boeheim was back it again.
Only this time as a favorite.
Slipping into that role every bit as well as they often have as underdogs, the Richmond Spiders defeated No. 13 seed Morehead State 65-48 on Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1988.
As the better seed and a four-point favorite, the 12th-seeded Spiders were "supposed" to win this one. They did, with ease.
They received 19 points from Justin Harper and turned Eagles big man Kenneth Faried into pretty much a non-factor.
The Spiders (29-7) will play the winner of Kansas-Illinois in the Southwest Region semifinals Friday in San Antonio.
"A lot of teams get (worked up) about where they're seeded," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "You can't worry about it too much. In the NCAA Tournament, you're not going to see too many teams get overlooked."
Richmond bottled up Faried by shadowing him with two, sometimes three defenders.
Faried, the leading Division I rebounder in the modern era, finished with 11 points and 13 boards, but it was about as quiet as a double double gets.
"They didn't do anything to me that I haven't seen," Faried said. "We couldn't get in a rhythm. That's a credit to Richmond. That defense is great and it's hard to play against if you've never played against it.
"We played Louisville and were able to come up with the upset. We fell short against Richmond."
The Eagles (25-10) were sent home, but not before tying a school record for wins.
Not that it eases the sting.
"The game will hurt you no matter who you are. Have days like Thursday, you can't explain how good you feel. And then you have days like this, when you can't explain how much it hurts," Morehead coach Donnie Tyndall said.