In the first few minutes, this contest was looking like an absolute laugher, although you’d have to be completely heartless not to feel a little pity for the Richmond Spiders as they were dismantled by the Kansas Jayhawks 77-57. The story of the game is quite simple. One Spider stat, says it all: 4-25 in 3-point efficiency. Not only was Richmond constantly coming from behind, but their desperate throws were rarely on target. No team wins like that.
The #12 seed did try to make it a game late in the first half and on into the second. At one point, KU only led by 15. But that was about the extent of the Spiders’ joy tonight:
The Spiders (29-8) passed up open shots, bounced balls into the Kansas bench and found themselves down 31-9 with more than six minutes still left in the first half. It belied the bluster Richmond appeared to show during a chippy confrontation with Kansas players before tipoff.
The Spiders were bouncing around the tunnel of the Alamodome, firing themselves up, when Kansas players brushed past them on their way to the court. Some apparent contact set off an exchange of words and shoves, and security stepped between the teams.
Before Kansas (35-2) filed back to the locker room at halftime — with a 41-22 lead — Self held his players back and waited for Richmond to exit first. He told TBS during a halftime interview that he wanted his players to go through the tunnel after the Spiders.
By contrast, Jayhawks were deadly efficient when they needed to be and gave no doubt that they deserved to be in the Elite 8 round and beyond.
Brady Morningstar scored 18 points and the Jayhawks knocked off 12th-seeded Richmond, 77-57, Friday night get one win from returning to the Final Four for the first time since their 2008 championship. They await the winner of 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth and 10th-seeded Florida State.
KU’s solid defensive play – and timely takeaways – notwithstanding, the entire Richmond was a mess. They couldn’t pass, they couldn’t shoot and they couldn’t rebound. Overall, they just looked out-of-place.
[PhotoSource: Ballinisahabit.net]
