Tuesday, March 18th, 7:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: John Paul Jones Arena (15,219) -- Charlottesville, Virginia. Television: Fox College Sports. CBI Record: Richmond 0-0, Virginia 0-0. Series Record: Virginia leads, 51-36.

GAME NOTES: The Gazelle Group, a sports marketing firm, presented its 16-team field for the inaugural College Basketball Invitational late Sunday night, and the Richmond Spiders will take on the Virginia Cavaliers tonight in Charlottesville. This tournament, which takes place exclusively at campus sites, will be a single-elimination event. However, the championship series will be a best-of-three format in which the higher seed will receive the first and last (if necessary) home game. Prior to the semifinals, the four remaining teams will be re-seeded. Richmond is making its 15th postseason appearance, including fifth in the last eight years. The Spiders finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference but lost to Saint Joseph's in the league tournament and carries a two-game losing streak into this event. Richmond hasn't lost three consecutive games all season, adding intrigue to this evening's tilt. Virginia has split its 30 games in 2007-08, but the team was just 5-11 against ACC opposition during the regular season. The Cavaliers failed to win a game in the conference tournament, losing to Georgia Tech by 18 points in the first round. The winner of this clash will move on to face either Rider or Old Dominion in the next round. Virginia owns a 51-36 lead in the all-time series with Richmond.

Third-Team All-Atlantic 10 performer Dan Geriot leads Richmond into tonight's clash. Just a sophomore, Geriot averages 14.0 ppg and has twice scored 30 points this season. Geriot is also tops on the boards with 5.5 rpg and will undoubtedly draw plenty of attention from the Virginia defenders. The Spiders have another impressive sophomore in David Gonzalvez, who is netting 11.7 ppg and poured in 25 points earlier this season against national power Memphis. Kevin Anderson, the reigning A-10 Rookie of the Year, adds 10.7 ppg from his point guard position. The fact that Richmond has played so well this season despite getting over 80 percent of its points from freshmen and sophomores is truly impressive.

There is no question that Virginia's Sean Singletary has the potential to dominate a game at the offensive end of the court. He has been the top scorer for the Cavaliers in each of the last six outings, and the fact that he poured in 41 points against a strong Miami-Florida team just two weeks ago is proof of his ability. Singletary has started all 30 games this season, and he is netting 19.9 ppg to go along with 181 assists and 55 steals. He gets help from Mamadi Diane and Adrian Joseph, a pair of solid offensive performers. Diane is posting 11.7 ppg, and Joseph adds 10.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg. The Cavs are generating 76.8 ppg this season, marginally better than the 74.5 ppg that they are permitting.

Virginia will likely jump on top early and cruise to victory. Expect a big performance from Singletary, who hopes to finish his collegiate career with a bang.

Predicted Outcome

Virginia 82, Richmond 67