Richmond beats No. 10 Kentucky, 1st win vs AP top-10 team
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Blake Francis and Nathan Cayo powered Richmond to the program's first road victory over an Associated Press top-10 team, rallying in the second half to beat No. 10 Kentucky 76-64 Sunday.
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.
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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 3-pointers 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 3-pointer for a 13-point edge with 4:40 left. Francis added a 3-pointer that made it 72-56 and sparked a celebration on the Spiders' bench.
Grant Golden made two free throws for Richmond with 10 seconds left before Burton grabbed Kentucky's final miss to seal it.
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Richmond shot 59% from the field after halftime and held the Wildcats to just 31%. It was the Spiders' first victory over a ranked team on the road since topping No. 14 Virginia Commonwealth 64-55 on Jan. 31, 2015. The Spiders improved to 14-22 against top-25 opponents.
B.J. Boston Jr. had 20 points and Olivier Sarr 17 for Kentucky, which outrebounded Richmond 54-31 but shot 36% and all missed all 10 tries from behind the arc.
Of the six Wildcats that played at least 10 minutes, five were freshman, including four in the starting lineup.
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Kentucky will likely fall out of the top 10 with the loss. Richmond might gain a few toward getting in the rankings with a huge win.
THE TAKEAWAY
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Richmond's biggest deficit was just six points, close enough to claw back in what was a back-and-forth contest for 26 minutes.
Kentucky shot well in the first half but cooled considerably after that and looked out of sync for much of the second half.
UP NEXT
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Richmond visits Charleston on Wednesday.
Kentucky faces No. 6 Kansas on Tuesday night at the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. The Wildcats are 2-3 recently against the Jayhawks, including a 71-63 home victory in January 2019.