Richmond’s upset of Kentucky its 1st road win vs. top-10 team

Richmond could hardly have played worse in the first half Sunday, yet it trailed No. 10 Kentucky by only a few points at Lexington, Kentucky.

The Spiders pulled confidence from the small deficit and turned that into better execution after halftime, leading to the biggest win away from home in program history.

Blake Francis and Nathan Cayo powered Richmond to its first road victory over an Associated Press top 10 team, rallying in the second half to beat the Wildcats 76-64.

“You just get to play a team like Kentucky so rarely,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. “So for us to have the opportunity to play them with a great team is great, and we seized that opportunity. It’s a tremendous win. Kentucky loses very rarely, they lose out of conference very rarely, so this is a great win.”

The Spiders (2-0) had been 0-25 against top 10 teams and trailed 36-30 just after halftime. Francis and Cayo each finished with 18 points, many coming during a series of small scoring runs that pushed Richmond ahead.

“We were only down four at halftime, we felt like we played horrible,” said fifth-year forward Grant Golden, who overcame four fouls to finish with 13 points and seven rebounds.

A 9-0 burst gave the Spiders the lead, and a

7-0 stretch made it 58-46 with 7:43 remaining. In between, Francis and Tyler Burton hit threepointers and Cayo converted a three-point play.

Kentucky (1-1) got within eight before Richmond answered with Jacob Gilyard’s fast-break layup and Matt Grace’s threepointer for a 13-point edge with 4:40 left. Francis added a three-pointer that made it 72-56 and sparked a celebration on the Spiders’ bench.

Kentucky committed 11 of its 21 turnovers in the second half, all of which Richmond converted into 22 points after going scoreless before halftime. The Wildcats also didn’t record an assist after posting five before the break, in addition to shooting 31%.

●No.

2 Baylor 86, Washington 52:

Jared Butler scored 20 points and the Bears won again without coach Scott Drew, beating the Huskies at Las Vegas. Assistant coach Jerome Tang is directing the Bears with Drew in a 10-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19. The Bears (2-0) stayed hot after scorching LouisianaLafayette on Saturday behind 56.3% shooting, by hitting 34 of 67

(50.7%) from the floor.

11 Creighton 69, North Dakota State 58:

Christian Bishop scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, Antwann Jones fueled the decisive run in the first half, and the host Bluejays opened the season with a victory over the Bison. Creighton’s opener was delayed until Sunday because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the program.

17 Houston 64, No. 14 Texas Tech 53:

Marcus Sasser scored 17 points playing close to home, Quentin Grimes added 15 and the Cougars never trailed in beating the Red Raiders (2-1) at neutral-site Fort Worth, Texas. Sasser, whose career high of 26 points came at SMU in Dallas as a freshman last season, was 5 of 15 from the field.

●No. 18 Arizona State 100, Houston Baptist 77:

Marcus Bagley scored 21 points, fellow freshman Josh Christopher added 17 and the host Sun Devils (2-1) used a huge first-half run to beat the overmatched Huskies (0-2).

●No. 23 Ohio State 74, UMass Lowell 64: Duane Washington Jr. scored 21 points and the host Buckeyes (2-0) had to rally from a second-half deficit to defeat the River Hawks (1-2).

●No. 24 Rutgers 70, Hofstra 56: Ron Harper Jr. had 15 points and nine rebounds, Jacob Young had 17 points and the host Scarlet Knights (3-0) beat the Pride (0-1).

●No. 25 Michigan 81, Oakland 71 (OT): Isaiah Livers scored 22 points and Hunter Dickinson had all 19 of his points after halftime, helping the host Wolverines (2-0) outlast the Golden Grizzlies (0-4).

STATE SCHOOLS

Georgia 85, Florida

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A&M 75: Tye Fagan had career highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds as the host Bulldogs opened their season by beating the Rattlers (1-1). M.J. Randolph scored 21 points with nine rebounds for the Rattlers. D.J. Jones added 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting, and Kamron Reaves and Bryce Moragne had 14 each.