The defending champions looked the part at the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament Tuesday, as Richmond opened its defense of its 2022 title with a 71-38 win over UMass, tied for the second-largest win in the 46-year history of the event.

The Spiders were led by senior Tyler Burton, who scored 28 points, the fourth most ever by a Spider in an A-10 Tournament game.
 
"It's March," said Burton. "This is win or go home. You've got to do what you've got to do to survive. Today, we played well."
 
When Burton checked out of the game with 5:35 remaining, he had outscored the UMass team by a margin of 28 to 25. The only Richmond players to score more points in an A-10 tournament game are Jacob Gilyard (32 vs VCU in 2022), Darien Brothers (31 vs La Salle in 2012), and Reggie Brown (30 vs St. Bonaventure in 2002).  
 
Richmond's 33-point margin of victory tied Rutgers' 100-67 win vs St. Bonaventure in 1989 for the second-largest win in tournament history, trailing only a 100-66 win by UMass over Saint Joseph's in 2021.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of our guys today," said Interim Head Coach Peter Thomas. "I thought we came in and we were on every part of the gameplan we discussed and did it to a high level with quite a bit of urgency."
 
The Spiders held UMass to 38 points, the fewest for any Richmond opponent since a 79-37 win vs The Citadel on November 12, 2010. The Minutemen shot 15-63 from the field and 1-16 from three-point range.
 
"I thought we did a really good job of keeping the ball out of the post, especially on their duck-ins and in transition," said Thomas. "I thought our guys really fought down there. Isaiah (Bigelow), Tyler, Neal (Quinn), Matt (Grace) — those guys were all fighting to keep the ball out of the post and make them take more contested outside shots."
 
Burton's 28 points moved him in front of Peter Woolfolk and ShawnDre' Jones into 12th place on Richmond's career scoring list, with 1,611 career points. Grace added 13 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, including 3-5 from three-point range.
 
"They've been in this position in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and obviously had a great run last year. I knew they'd come in with a lot of confidence," said Thomas of Burton and Grace. "Those are the types of games they're capable of, and when they play like that we're certainly a much better team."
 
The Spiders will face 5-seed George Mason Wednesday at 2 p.m. on USA Network with a spot in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals on the line. Richmond has dropped a pair of matchups vs the Patriots this season, falling 62-58 on the road and 62-60 at home.
 
"We had two tough battles, especially the one recently," said Burton. "I said earlier it's hard to beat a team three times in one year, especially a team that's as hungry as we are and as ready to play as we are."