Richmond's defense forced 21 turnovers against Kentucky Sunday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Richmond coach Chris Mooney didn’t have any problem pinpointing what was the biggest key to his team’s 76-64 upset win at Kentucky.
“I feel like the entire game we were very good defensively. I mean really, really good defensively. Really limited transition which they are exceptional when they are in transition,” said Mooney. “It started with the defense and I think it ended with defense to be honest with you.”
That included shutting down Kentucky center Olivier Sarr after he had 14 points the first half. Sarr managed just three points the second half when Richmond took control.
“He got off to a great start. He is a great player, an experienced player which is unique to Kentucky. We didn’t want to commit to double-teaming him. A lot of his shots are mid-range jump shots. That is a tough place to double team someone because he is not as close to the basket,” Mooney said.
“We didn’t want to commit to the double team because of all the space that would leave on the court. We did want to pay extra attention and throw him off his rhythm a little bit. I know one time he was called for a travel. Later, he just had harder shots to make.”
Mooney had never coached against Kentucky before and said he was glad his team “seized” the opportunity.
“These seniors haven’t had it so easy. They haven’t walked in and had success right away. They have really worked for it and earned it. But it shows up during the course of the game. We don’t get too rattled. We continue to play,” the Richmond coach said.
“We weren’t playing well on offense in the first half, but we played very well on offense in the second half and one bad play doesn’t lead to the next. But it’s a tremendous win. Kentucky loses very rarely, they lose out of conference extremely rarely, and this is a great win for us.”
Richmond even won despite getting outrebounded 54-31.
“We knew they were very difficult on the boards. It’s not traditional, just big guys taking up space rebounding. They are so long and athletic that it is really difficult, even if you are boxing out, to get a rebound,” Mooney said.
“Now, shooting was disappointing because we are a good shooting team. It is going to happen. The length bothered us, the big game had us a little bit anxious to begin with. I think it says a lot for us to win by 12 without shooting well. That is a really impressive stat.”
