Richmond (-1) at South Florida - 5:00pm Pacific

RPI rankings do not mean a whole lot this early in the season, but the Spiders enter the game with a #20 ranking and by RPI standards have played the 11th most difficult schedule in the country.  They are 4-3 on the season but they were undermanned when losing by 6 to South Carolina and by 8 at UAB and their most recent loss came at Wake Forest.  UAB and Wake Forest by my own estimation are very good teams and South Carolina has yet to lose this season.  Richmond is now in its second season under head coach Jerry Wainwright (formerly at UNC-Wilmington) and should be more comfortable in his system.  Four starters are back from last season and they return Reggie Brown who led the team in scoring two seasons ago but missed all of last season with injury.  Brown missed the losses vs South Carolina (in Missouri) and at UAB, but returned to play a season high 26 minutes vs Wake Forest a week ago.  He is one of the top offensive weapons on the team.  Fellow seniors Tony Dobbins (conference defensive player of the year last season) and Mike Skrocki (16.6ppg this season) are returning double digit scorers.  Junior forward Jamaal Scott and senior center Eric Zwayer are also back.  True freshman point guard Daon Merritt (A-10 newcomer of the week) has played well averaging 7.6ppg & 4.0apg.  6-11 sophomore Kevin Steenberge (14.0 minutes per game) provides good size.  Freshman Gaston Moliva, junior Patrick O'Malley, and sophomore Jermaine Bucknow all are averaging double figures in minutes. 

 

I will continue to look to bet against South Florida until they give me a good reason not to.  The Bulls have looked downright ugly in past two road games losing by 24 at Providence and by 23 at Nebraska.  Leading returning scorer Jimmy Baxter has yet to adjust to new role as go to guy and fellow returning starter Marlyn Bryant is still not himself following offseason surgery.  No one on this team is a consistent scoring threat.  The Bulls top three scorers have combined for 62 made field goals and 54 turnovers.  Seven different players have started as first year coach McCullum is scrambling to find answers.  Thinly built center Gerrick Morris is a terrific shotblocker and averaged 10.0ppg in first three games vs weak teams but his offense disappeared when the opposition got tougher (6 points combined in last two games despite playing heavy minutes).  There are not many other options down low for the Bulls.  South Florida returns home today but it takes a much bigger name than Richmond to even fill half of their arena.  Only 2700 showed up for home opener vs Wright State and the Sun Dome has a capacity of 10,000+.  Again, it will be quite some time before coach McCullum is able to transform Seth Greenberg's players into his own.  In the meantime this team will continue to struggle.  They are not doing anything well at the moment.

 

Richmond is a very well coached team and very experienced with four seniors and two juniors in the rotation.  They are already battle tested this season with games vs South Carolina, vs VCU, at UAB, and at Wake Forest.  They have been competitive in every game including last week in Winston Salem where they gave the Deacs all they wanted and were within one point on multiple occasions in the second half.  Coach Wainwright scheduled aggressively this season as the Spiders still have upcoming non-conference games vs Manhattan at MSG, vs Providence, at Colorado, and at Kansas.  This is a road win they need.  This will be somewhat of a homecoming for Richmond senior center Eric Zwayer who hails from nearby Sebring, FL.  An inspired effort from him down low will be another plus for the Spiders.

 

Richmond  1 UNIT