In a battle of first round upset victors, the No. 12 seed Richmond Spiders, behind 48 percent shooting from the floor, dismissed No. 13 seed Morehead State 65-48 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA bracket. The Spiders took the metaphorical scalpel to the Eagles, dissecting them to the tune of 18 assists on 26 made field goals.
Senior forward Justin Harper took over for Richmond midway through the second half, finishing with 19 points (on nine of 18 shooting), six rebounds and three assists. Fellow senior standout Kevin Anderson added 14 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Spiders big man Dan Geriot contributed 13 points and seven rebounds.
Morehead State's star big man Kenneth Faried was basically held in check by the Richmond bigs. Faried mustered only 11 points and 13 rebounds. Demonte Harper, hero of the upset win over No. 4 Louisville, scored only four points but chipped in 11 rebounds and four assists.
Richmond will face either Southwest Region No. 1 seed Kansas or No. 9 seed Illinois in New Orleans next Thursday or Friday (times and dates will be announced when all games conclude tomorrow evening). Someone remind Darius Garrett tomorrow that Richmond won this game, because he might be a tad foggy tonight. (via @bubbaprog)