First-half score: University of Richmond- 38, University of North Carolina at Charlotte- 28
Important Stats: UR's Darien Brothers (6-10, 20 pts), Charlotte's DeMario Mayfield (7-10 FT, 11 pts), Charlotte bench outscoring Richmond bench, 19-7.
Analysis: After struggling in Richmond's last two games (shooting 2-13 against La Salle and 3-11 against Butler), both losses, Darien Brothers came out on fire, scoring the Spiders first 17 points. He cooled off a bit in the last 10 minutes, but the damage was already done, and his teammates started to feed off his energy. UR coach Chris Mooney elected to go with a bigger starting lineup, with freshman forward Deion Taylor making his first career start alongside fellow big men Alonzo Nelson-Ododa and Greg Robbins. Taylor responded with a spark on offense and defense with 4 rebounds and 5 points, including a crowd-pleasing put-back dunk. On defense, the Spiders have been able to keep Charlotte's leading scorer Chris Braswell, who gave Richmond fits last season, under control, as he has just 4 points. The 49ers haven't lost yet in the Atlantic-10, but the Spiders clearly looked like the better team in that half. The only thing keeping the game as close as it is was free throw shooting, as Charlotte got to the line 16 times, making 11.
What to look for in the second half: Look for Charlotte to come out with a better gameplan in the second half, likely looking to get Braswell the ball inside more. Meanwhile, look for Richmond to try to keep its momentum by playing better defense and hopefully stay out of more foul trouble.
Contact staff writer David Weissman at david.weissman@richmond.edu
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