Spiders earn 12th seed, face Vanderbilt in Denver Thursday

The University of Richmond men's basketball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament, but the recently crowned Atlantic-10 champions earned a surprisingly low 12th seed and will play Vanderbilt University during the first round in Denver on Thursday.

The game will be broadcast on TBS at approximately 4:10 p.m., immediately following the 1:40 p.m. game between 4th-seeded University of Louisville and 13th-seeded Morehead State University.

The Spiders, who earned a 7th seed last season, finished the season 27-7 and won 14 of their final 16 games. Vanderbilt finished 23-10 and 9-7 in the Southeastern Conference. The winner of the first round game will face the winner of the game between Louisville and Morehead State.

The Spiders clinched an automatic berth to the tournament by beating the University of Dayton 67-54 on Sunday afternoon in Atlantic City, N.J., to win their first ever A-10 title.

Selection Sunday provided many surprises for the newly expanded field of 68. Virginia Commonwealth University earned a berth to the tournament and will face the University of Southern California during a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio. Virginia Tech did not earn a bid to the tournament, despite widespread consensus among basketball analysts that the Hokies would be in the field. The other Virginia teams in the tournament are Old Dominion University, George Mason University and Hampton University.

The University of Richmond ticket office will have a limited number of tickets available for the first round games. Students can purchase tickets between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday at the Robins Center and must bring a valid student ID.

Contact staff writer Reilly Moore at reilly.moore@richmond.edu.