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Kendall Anthony, perimeter defense result in Richmond beating No. 12 UMass

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No. 12 UMass had seemingly made a habit of digging themselves a hole in the first half, only to find a way to climb out of it in the second half. In each of their three Atlantic 10 victories ahead of Wednesday’s game at Richmond the Minutemen trailed in the second half, with Chaz Williams and company doing just enough to escape unblemished.

That wasn’t the case against the Spiders, who rode a 21-point night from Kendall Anthony to a 58-55 victory at the Robins Center. On a night that saw many of the players on both teams struggle offensively Anthony had no such issues, shooting 8-for-14 from the field and making four of his six attempts from beyond the arc.

UMass had a chance to send the game into overtime but Chaz Williams’ three-pointer went long, capping a night that had some things in common with their loss to Florida State in December.

Just as they did against Florida State (1-for-15 3PT), UMass struggled from deep against Richmond as they shot 2-for-14. Entering the game UMass ranked third in the Atlantic 10 in three-point percentage, and while they may not rely on the shot for a high percentage of their points (just under 21% of their points were scored on three-pointers, 12th in the Atlantic 10) the Minutemen need to hit the shots they take in order to keep opponents honest. When that occurs the driving lanes remain open for Williams, making him an even tougher player to corral.

That didn’t happen against Richmond, which was able to slow down that Gordon/Williams tandem as a result. Gordon and Williams combined to score just 15 points on 4-for-17 shooting, with Williams shooting 2-for-11 and turning the ball over four times to go along with his seven assists. Against Florida State, the senior shot 4-for-14 from the field and turned the ball over four times.

The approach teams need to take in order to slow down UMass has been known for quite some time, with the most important objective being to slow down Williams, but given his skill that a task far easier said than done. The Richmond guards were successful in doing so, and Chris Mooney’s team picked up another quality win as a result.

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