Kevin Anderson scored 20 points in Saturday's win against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, surpassing the 2,000-point mark and making him the third all-time scorer in University of Richmond basketball history.
While Anderson is not leading this year's team in scoring or assists, he is the most important part of the offense, whether he touches the ball or not. Actually, he is a lot of things that can't be measured by statistics.
Anderson is freaky fast.
Call him Jimmy John's delivery. Actually, there's a chance he has even delivered you a Jimmy John's sub, because he worked there. You probably didn't notice him though. He's only six feet tall, so he doesn't stand out like a lot of Spider basketball players.
But when Anderson trades his Jimmy John's outfit for a Spider uniform, he becomes one of the best point guards in school history. Earlier this year, Anderson was named a top-20 finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, which is given to the top collegiate point guard in the nation. He'd probably be the last one to tell you, though, because ...
Anderson is humble and unselfish.
His first three years on the team, he shared the floor with Dave Gonzalvez, who averaged double-digit points in all three of those years. So Anderson fed him the ball, recording 94 assists his freshman season, 101 assists during his sophomore season and 93 assists during his junior season, which easily led the team.
For his outstanding play in 2010, Anderson was named Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American, Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and First-Team All Atlantic 10, making him the first Spider to earn each honor.
The only things that are as decorated as his trophy case are his upper arms. If there was an award for best tattoos on the Richmond basketball team, Anderson could probably add that trophy to his collection, too.
This year Anderson has found a new favorite target to pass to -- senior Justin Harper. Harper is averaging 18.2 points per game in 2010-2011, nearly eight more than last year. Anderson, on the other hand, has seen his points per game drop from 17.8 a year ago to 15.8 this year. Why? Because he's not scared to make the extra passes that have helped Harper's stats soar, even if doing so hurts his production.
Anderson is a winner.
The year before Anderson arrived at Richmond, the team was coming off an 8-22 record. But with Anderson at the point, the team has improved every year. His freshman year, the team went 16-15. His sophomore year, the Spiders improved to 20-16. His junior year, the team jumped to 26-9, and this year, at 22-7 so far, the team hopes to eclipse that mark. But for the team to win more games than last year, Anderson will need to be ...
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Clutch.
Throughout his career, Anderson has developed a trend of scoring most of his points during the second half, and it's not because he's a slow starter. In the first half, his priotity has seemed to be feeling out the opposing team's defense and setting up his teammates. In the second half of close games, Anderson takes over. That's when you'll catch him making lightning fast moves around the basket and sinking his trademark foul-line floaters.
Richmond has one more conference game remaining before the team enters the A-10 tournament on March 8 in Atlantic City. In order for the team to secure an NCAA Tournament berth, it will need to perform well. More specifically, the team will need Anderson to perform well. If history is any indication, he will. He may have 2,009 career points, but ...
Anderson is not finished.
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