URI is now 4-1 in Atlantic 10 play and 10-6 overall, primarily because Richmond could not guard Dawan Robinson.

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 22, 2006

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- With just under three minutes left in last night's game at the Ryan Center, after Dawan Robinson had scored on another drive to the basket, the student section began a chant.

"You can't guard him. You can't guard him," the students shouted as Richmond took the ball upcourt and tried to find itself a shot.

The cheer was the perfect way to sum up Rhode Island's 58-46 triumph over the Spiders.

URI won its fourth in a row, to go to 4-1 in Atlantic 10 play and 10-6 overall, primarily because Richmond does not have anyone who can guard Robinson.

The URI grad student turned the game into his personal playground. He drove to the basket seemingly at will as he piled up 26 points. For the first 18 minutes of the second half, Robinson had as many baskets after intermission as the entire Richmond team.

"I thought he really stepped it up big time, made some big plays in taking it to the basket," said Rhody coach Jim Baron. "He can be uncanny."

Said Robinson: "Their defense is so spread out, you've got to attack it. I just tried to take advantage of it."

First-year Richmond coach Chris Mooney said of Robinson: "He scored 26 points on 17 shots. A lot of guys need more shots than that to get to 26. He's a good player. He took advantage of his quickness. He's a little hard for us to defend."

Jamaal Wise also had a nice night, with his third double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds), but he was simply the best supporting actor in this one. Jermaine Bucknor had 13 points and Kevin Steenberge 11 for Richmond (10-8, 3-2). But they could take no pleasure in their numbers. Between them, they were a combined 2-for-15 on 3-point attempts and 8-for-24 overall from the floor.

Richmond slowed the pace with its Princeton-style offense, and points were hard to come by. The outside shooters on both teams struggled. URI was only 1-for-9 outside the arc, and that one came on a desperation heave by Robinson at the buzzer ending the first half. Richmond was 4-for-24 on 3-pointers.

The answer was to take the ball to the basket. There are few players around who can do it any better than Robinson. And rarely has he done it any better than he did last night.

Richmond, which is down to seven scholarship players, starts a tall team with five players 6-5 or taller. The Spiders have no true point guard, no one with the speed and quickness to guard Robinson. The Spiders played match-up man-to-man defense. URI did a good job protecting the ball. For the second straight game, it had only eight turnovers. The Rams had only seven assists (three by Robinson), but in this case that wasn't a problem because Robinson did not need anyone to assist him. He took matters into his own hands when it was needed most and he delivered.

"It was something I saw," Robinson said. "As soon as the game started, I saw that swinging the ball around really wasn't getting much, so someone had to penetrate. I tried to penetrate the gaps and no one was stepping up to help, so I just kept going,"

Baron said, "With that match-up, you have to have guys that can take it off the dribble. That gave us the opportunity to go to the bucket hard."

URI "had a good game plan," Mooney acknowledged.

Robinson's first basket of the game was a 17-footer. He also had that 3-pointer at the buzzer ending the first half, giving URI a 28-25 lead. Every other basket he had came off drives to the basket. When he was fouled, he cashed in there.

The game was close for the first 30 minutes with six ties and eight lead changes. URI was ahead 40-38 when Robinson took control. He scored off the drive -- Richmond was called for goaltending -- then made two free throws to make it 44-38. Mooney was called for a tech protesting a foul call on his team on URI's next possession. Mooney was not happy because his team was in a stretch in which it made only one field goal in 10 minutes and was in the process of missing 10 straight 3-point attempts.

Robinson made two free throws on the tech, and Will Daniels both foul shots for the foul. After a free throw by Bucknor, Robinson scored again off the drive. It was 50-39, Rhode Island, just inside three minutes, the URI student section went into its "You can't guard him chant," and Rhode Island was on its way to its fourth straight win.

pkenyon@projo.com / (401) 277-7340