University of Richmond Athletics
Saturday, February 28
Chicago, IL
4:00 PM
University of Richmond
15-14,5-11Atlantic 10
66
at
69
Loyola Chicago
7-22,3-13Atlantic 10
1
2
F
Richmond
29
37
66
Loyola Chicago
36
33
69
Shooting Dooms Spiders at Loyola
02/28/2026 | Men's Basketball
CHICAGO — Richmond's worst shooting effort of the season was enough to negate a strong individual performance by Spiders guard AJ Lopez as UR fell to Loyola Chicago 69-66 on the road Saturday. Richmond made just 17 of its 57 field goal attempts, giving the Spiders their worst field goal percentage (29.8%) in an Atlantic 10 game since Dec. 30, 2021 vs Saint Joseph's (27.8,% 20-72).
Lopez scored a game-high 23 points on 6-12 shooting from the field and 4-7 from three-point range. The rest of the Spiders combined to make just four of 25 three-point attempts.
"I thought he played a very, very good all around game," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney of Lopez, who also had a career-high four steals. "His scoring in the first half is certainly what kept us in the game."
Richmond did several things well Saturday, including turning 16 Loyola turnovers into 20 points, giving away the ball just five times, and getting to the foul line 33 times. But none of it could overcome an ice-cold performance from the field.
"We really shot poorly," said Mooney. "If you have five turnovers in a game, and give up four offensive rebounds and force 16 turnovers ... we're going to need to be able to make threes. In the second half especially — we were three for 16 — and I thought we had a bunch of open shots."
After a three-pointer from Lopez opened the scoring, the Ramblers ran off the next 10 points to establish an early lead and get the Gentile Arena crowd behind them. Loyola led by as many as 13 in the opening half before a three-pointer from David Thomas and a dunk plus the foul from Mike Walz just before the halftime buzzer cut the Loyola lead to 36-29 at intermission.
The Spiders managed just three field goals over the first eight-plus minutes of the second half as Loyola took its biggest lead of the game at 50-36 with 11:36 remaining. But Richmond rallied, at one point outscoring the Ramblers 9-0 over a critical three-minute span, with all its points coming from the foul line.
A pair of free throws from Mikkel Tyne with 3:47 to play pulled UR within one at 56-55. But in the next minute, UR turned the ball over with a chance to take the lead, missed what would have been a game-tying jumper, and had starting center Mike Walz foul out after he committed his fifth foul with 2:49 to go.
"When you have opportunities, you have to make some of those opportunities to win road games," said Mooney.
With reserve center Jonathan Beagle sidelined with a broken finger, the Spiders were already at a disadvantage down low, as Loyola outrebounded UR 38-25 and outscored the Spiders 32-16 in the paint.
The outcome was in doubt up until the final buzzer, as a potential game-tying three-pointer from Aiden Argabright hit off the front of the rim on the game's final play.
The loss dropped Richmond to 15-14 overall and 5-11 in Atlantic 10 play.
The Spiders will return to action with their home finale on Tuesday against Dayton at 7 PM on ESPN Plus and MASN.
"We just need to come out physical and with our hair on fire," said Lopez about Tuesday.
Lopez scored a game-high 23 points on 6-12 shooting from the field and 4-7 from three-point range. The rest of the Spiders combined to make just four of 25 three-point attempts.
"I thought he played a very, very good all around game," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney of Lopez, who also had a career-high four steals. "His scoring in the first half is certainly what kept us in the game."
Richmond did several things well Saturday, including turning 16 Loyola turnovers into 20 points, giving away the ball just five times, and getting to the foul line 33 times. But none of it could overcome an ice-cold performance from the field.
"We really shot poorly," said Mooney. "If you have five turnovers in a game, and give up four offensive rebounds and force 16 turnovers ... we're going to need to be able to make threes. In the second half especially — we were three for 16 — and I thought we had a bunch of open shots."
After a three-pointer from Lopez opened the scoring, the Ramblers ran off the next 10 points to establish an early lead and get the Gentile Arena crowd behind them. Loyola led by as many as 13 in the opening half before a three-pointer from David Thomas and a dunk plus the foul from Mike Walz just before the halftime buzzer cut the Loyola lead to 36-29 at intermission.
The Spiders managed just three field goals over the first eight-plus minutes of the second half as Loyola took its biggest lead of the game at 50-36 with 11:36 remaining. But Richmond rallied, at one point outscoring the Ramblers 9-0 over a critical three-minute span, with all its points coming from the foul line.
A pair of free throws from Mikkel Tyne with 3:47 to play pulled UR within one at 56-55. But in the next minute, UR turned the ball over with a chance to take the lead, missed what would have been a game-tying jumper, and had starting center Mike Walz foul out after he committed his fifth foul with 2:49 to go.
"When you have opportunities, you have to make some of those opportunities to win road games," said Mooney.
With reserve center Jonathan Beagle sidelined with a broken finger, the Spiders were already at a disadvantage down low, as Loyola outrebounded UR 38-25 and outscored the Spiders 32-16 in the paint.
The outcome was in doubt up until the final buzzer, as a potential game-tying three-pointer from Aiden Argabright hit off the front of the rim on the game's final play.
The loss dropped Richmond to 15-14 overall and 5-11 in Atlantic 10 play.
The Spiders will return to action with their home finale on Tuesday against Dayton at 7 PM on ESPN Plus and MASN.
"We just need to come out physical and with our hair on fire," said Lopez about Tuesday.
Team Stats
UR
Loyola
FG%
.298
.500
3FG%
.250
.313
FT%
.727
.667
RB
25
38
TO
5
16
STL
9
3
Game Leaders
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballLoyola Postgame
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