Though Wisconsin and Richmond have never met on the basketball
court before, Bo Ryan and the Badgers might get the feeling they
have seen the Spiders before.

“[They are] a very tough team defensively, very similar to
a Purdue as far as how physical they will be,” Wisconsin
assistant coach Greg Gard said. “Very similar to the teams
we’ve seen in the Big Ten. I think they most resemble Purdue
from what I can see on film—how physical they are, how hard
they play, how they really come after you.”

Hailing from the Atlantic 10 Conference, head coach Jerry
Wainwright’s Richmond squad plays a brand of basketball
consistent with the Purdues, Michigan States and Illinois’s
of the Big Ten.

“[Richmond is] a real physical team, [they] play real
hard, use their hands a lot,” Ryan said. “That’s
how Richmond will play, they’ll just come out and get after
you and just more or less challenge the officials to make the calls
and that’s how they play. You have to be able to deal with
that.”

The Badgers may in fact feel like they are looking in the mirror
when watching film of the Spiders in the days before Friday’s
NCAA Tournament first round matchup.

“It’s going to be a battle of two pretty similar
teams,” Gard said, “teams that have led their leagues
in defense the last two years. Both teams really resemble their
head coaches in how hard they play, both get on the floor and get
after people. It’s going to be two teams that mirror each
other pretty well.”

The Spiders (20-12) are led by a pair of seniors: guard Tony
Dobbins and swingman Mike Skrocki. The two-time Atlantic 10
Defensive Player of the Year, Dobbins has swiped a team-leading 83
steals this season and is expected to draw the defensive assignment
on Devin Harris. Offensively, Dobbins ranks second on the team
behind Skrocki with an average of 11.2 points per game, and is the
Spiders’ leading rebounder at 7.7 boards per contest.

“We know that they’re pretty athletic,” senior
guard Freddie Owens said. “They have guards that can hurt you
from the perimeter, as well as in the paint.”

Pacing the team at 16.1 points per game, Skrocki provides
Richmond with a threat from the perimeter. A dangerous shooter, he
has connected on 35.5-percent of his three-point tries and shoots
nearly 83-percent from the free throw line.

“They have some great players,” Gard said.
“Skrocki obviously can really shoot the ball as well as
anybody we’ve seen in the Big Ten. Dobbins really makes plays
off the dribble and is really the energy guy for them, leads them
in rebounding, has been the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the
Year two years in a row. And, they have other guys that have really
fit into their roles.”

Wainwright employs a large number of roles players, as ten
Spiders average more than 13 minutes per game and nine players
average more than four points per contest, led by guard Reggie
Brown (7.4 points per game) and forward Gaston Moliva (5.5 points
and 4.0 rebounds per game).

“There’s ten of them that play in that rotation and
they all seem to understand their roles,” Gard said.
“They know that Skrocki and Dobbins are their leaders and
they all jump on and follow and make for a very effective
team.”

The Wisconsin staff expects Wainwright and Richmond to utilize
several defenses Friday.

“[They are] very sound fundamentally defensively, will
change things up a little bit with some zone and some man and give
us some different looks—some trapping,” Gard said.
“A team that does not beat themselves, you have to make great
plays against them.”

Wisconsin will likely hold a large home court advantage in
nearby Milwaukee, but the hostile crowd is not likely to shake
Richmond who holds an 8-6 road record on the season. With road
victories over Colorado, Kansas and Xavier, the Spiders have proven
to be a dangerous team away from the Robins Center.

“We don’t take any opponent lightly,” Owens
said. “We don’t disrespect any opponent. We treat every
opponent as if they were national champions the year before, and
that’s the biggest thing about this team—we prepare for
every team the same way.”

Prior to their Atlantic 10 Tournament semi-final loss to Dayton,
the Spiders had won seven of their last eight games.

“[They] execute very smartly on offense, [they have] good
penetrators, good shooters, [they] take care of the
basketball,” Ryan said. “They didn’t beat the
teams they beat because they couldn’t play. It’s the
NCAA Tournament, somebody’s going to get a six-game win
streak, that’s all we know.”