“Their physical play and aggressiveness really dictated the game,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said, “and we weren’t able to find any rhythm offensively. I don’t think it was our best game, but I think UMass had a lot to do with that.”
Richmond is 2-1 against the other top teams with a road victory against Loyola, a victory at home against Dayton and a loss at VCU.
• Loyola Chicago (18-7, 10-2) beat visiting Saint Joseph’s 64-59 to jump Richmond and move into a first-place tie with the No. 16 Dayton Flyers (20-4, 10-2). The Ramblers have won five games in a row.
“This team is finding ways to win,” Loyola coach Drew Valentine said. “That simple statement encompasses what our conference season has been. Obviously, we don’t want to live on the edge, but it’s important for teams to find a way to win and be able to fight through adversity. The start of the second half ended up being the reason why we won the game. We were able to get stops when we needed them. Guys stepped up and hit shots when they needed to. That mental toughness you need to fight through games, our guys showed a bunch of it.”
Loyola is 0-2 against the other top three teams with a home loss to Richmond and a loss at VCU.
Dayton became the first A-10 team to reach 10 victories with a 75-59 win over Duquesne on Tuesday at UD Arena. The Flyers are 0-2 against the other top three teams with losses at Richmond and VCU.
Defending champion Virginia Commonwealth (16-8, 8-3) is the other top contender for the regular-season championship. VCU is 3-0 against the other top teams with home victories against Loyola Chicago, Dayton and Richmond.
Dayton plays Fordham (10-14, 4-7) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. The Flyers play three teams teams in the top half of the standings in their final six games: at George Mason (17-8, 6-6) on Feb. 21; at Loyola on March 1; and a home game against VCU on March 8 in the final game of the regular season.
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