Coming off one of its most efficient performances of the season, Richmond looks for a third straight victory when the Spiders host Saint Joseph’s in Atlantic 10 action on Sunday.
Richmond (12-4, 2-1) is coming off Wednesday’s 89-80 win at St. Bonaventure. It was Richmond’s first win at the Reilly Center since 2015. The Spiders had a great game from the perimeter, shooting .527 from the field and .421 from three-point range.
Saint Joseph’s (9-7, 1-2) snapped a two-game losing streak with Wednesday’s 97-90 overtime home win over Duquesne. Sophomore guard Jaiden Glover-Toscano, a transfer from Saint John’s, scored 28 points, hitting 5-of-11 from three-point range. His two-point basket with 6.3 seconds left tied the score and eventually forced overtime.
After surrendering a three-pointer to begin overtime, Saint Joseph’s went on a 12-0 run to put the game away.
The Hawks are 0-5 on the road this season, while Richmond is 8-2 at home.
Saint Joseph’s at Richmond Odds
As of this writing, Richmond is an 8.5-point college basketball betting favorite according to BetMGM.
The Over/Under is 150.5 points.
Saint Joseph’s at Richmond On TV
The Saint Joseph’s at Richmond game will be at noon ET on Sunday and televised by USA Network.
Saint Joseph’s at Richmond Prediction
I like Richmond laying the points in a game that shouldn’t lack offense.
Richmond averages 84.3 points, while allowing 73.2. Saint Joseph’s averages 75.4 points and allows 73.7 PPG.
Richmond’s scoring average is the most since the Spiders averaged 83.7 PPG in 1968-69.
The difference could be in three-point shooting. Richmond is shooting .378 from beyond the arc, which, entering the weekend, was second in the Atlantic 10 and 27th nationally. Meanwhile, Saint Joseph’s is shooting just .274 from deep, which is last in the Atlantic 10.
Both teams are relatively close in free-throw shooting, with Saint Joseph’s at .765 and Richmond at .756.
Richmond has also done a good job taking care of the ball. The Spiders are second in the Atlantic 10 with a 2.56 turnover margin. Saint Joseph’s sits at 12th with a -1.00 margin.
The best way for Saint Joseph’s to win is to outperform its statistics. In the last game, the Hawks shot .319 from three-point range, not great, but better than their overall number. Saint Joseph’s will need to do that this time at an even higher level.
It won’t be easy because Richmond is second in the Atlantic 10 in three-point defense, allowing teams to shoot .310. Saint Joseph’s is allowing teams to shoot at a .330 clip.
Richmond 6-foot-7 junior Jaden Daughtry, a transfer from Indiana State, is shooting .500 from three-point range (15-for-30). He is also the second leading scorer (11.4 PPG) despite only starting three of the first 16 games.
Richmond has a balanced scoring attack, led by 6-foot-5 graduate student AJ Lopez, a transfer from Maine. Lopez is averaging 12.8 points while shooting .435 from three-point range. Two other sharpshooters include 6-foot-3 graduate student Will Johnston, a transfer from Loyola Marymount, and 6-foot-11 senior Mike Walz. Johnston is averaging 10.5 points and shooting .451 from three-point range and .909 from the foul line. Walz is averaging 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting .455 from beyond the arc.
Saint Joseph’s will need a big game from Glover-Toscano, who leads the Hawks with a 15.9 scoring average. The Hawks’ second leading scorer, Deuce Jones, is no longer with the team. He averaged 15.8 points in 10 games.
Guard Derek Simpson is averaging 11.4 points, but he is coming off a season-high 23-point effort in the win over Duquesne. Stopping Simpson will be a priority for Richmond.
