WASHINGTON (AP) — Jacob Gilyard fueled a dynamic Richmond offense behind a 32-point career night as the Spiders overwhelmed cross-city rival VCU 75-64 in the Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinals on Friday night at Capital One Arena.
With the win secured, sixth-seeded Richmond locks down the final spot in Saturday's upcoming A-10 Semifinals, taking on No. 2 overall Dayton at 3:30 p.m.
"Today is different just because the rivalry is a great rivalry," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "And with that comes just more emotion. The highs are higher. Lows are lower. So really it was just about challenging us because we had played so poorly in the second half down at the Siegel Center. We prepped earlier in the week for VCU. And then we started prepping in the locker room after the game last night against Rhode Island. I mean, we wanted to be ready. And I thought the guys did a great job."
Outside of Gilyard, who also contributed four steals and three assists, Tyler Burton posted 14 points and eight rebounds for the Spiders (21-12) while Nathan Cayo added 11 points and Andre Gustavson rounded double-digit scorers with 10 points.
Richmond initially struggled out of the gate, falling behind by as many as six points midway through the opening half. Gilyard and Co. battled back, however, surging to an eight-point edge by the halfway point, an advantage they would not surrender for the remainder of the contest.
For VCU (21-9), Vince Williams Jr. paced the team with 18 points and nine rebounds while KeShawn Curry tacked on 14 points as well. Adrian Baldwin Jr. posted 12 points and dished out seven assists.
The Rams did manage to knot the game at 38 points apiece just under four minutes into the second period, but a quick Gilyard triple pushed Richmond back ahead for good.
"Being that we were down, we were just trying to create things and us trying to create plays," Curry said. "We were turning the ball over, not being strong with the ball. Getting in the lane and losing the ball. And not executing how Coach [Rhoades] wanted us to."
"I don't feel like we capitalized in transition a lot," Williams added. "I feel like I had three turnovers in transition. So I feel like we fixed that at six points. We couldn't get over the hump of that six- or seven-point lead they had."