– Chris Lang
Typing to the soothing sounds of N’Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” in the background at the Robins Center. I meant to blog pregame, but apparently I’m not smart enough to find the media will call here, so I barely made it into the building before tipoff. I’m filling in tonight for regular Tech hoops gadfly Nathan Warters, who I assume is happier to be in Miami at the Orange Bowl than at this rock fight at UR.
It took Richmond nearly eight minutes to score its first point, but the Spiders have rallied nicely. The Chris Mooney-led Spiders aren’t really emulating Princeton circa 1996, but Pete Carrill would be proud anyway. UR isn’t hammering Tech with the backdoor cut as much as it is with the 3-point shot. The Spiders have attempted more than half of their shots from long range and have hit five, and they held the Hokies scoreless for nearly the last seven minutes of the first half. Sitting as I am right near the Tech bench, Hokies coach Seth Greenberg’s head looks like it’s about to disintegrate. I wouldn’t blame him a bit.
The Hokies turned it over 14 times in the first half, eight shy of their season high of 22 set two Sundays ago at Wake Forest. Richmond, which leads the Atlantic 10 in steals, has eight thefts and 10 points off turnovers, which is the difference in the game right now.
If it wasn’t for a burst of offense from guard Dorenzo Hudson, who leads Tech with nine points, the Hokies could be in a world of hurt. Obviously, they’ll need to take better care of the ball in the second half to have a chance of pulling out a win here. Richmond may not be glamorous at 6-6, but any road win is a good road win, as any college coach will tell you. With the meat of the ACC schedule coming up, Tech needs this one badly.
