By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Richmond just upped the ante.

Sunday's game between Xavier and the University of Richmond at Cintas Center already was going to be a struggle for position in the Atlantic 10 West. The Spiders increased the stakes Thursday by pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball season with a 69-68 win at No. 12 Kansas.

Tony Dobbins played the hero's role, hitting the game-winner with one second remaining and ending the Jayhawks' 52-game nonconference home winning streak.

Xavier players already viewed Richmond (10-8) as a formidable opponent, but Thursday's game reinforced that awareness.

"We take notice of everybody we play," Xavier's Will Caudle said. "But this will really make our eyes open after watching that game."

The win against Kansas boosted Richmond's Ratings Percentage Index standing 15 spots to No. 40, according to CollegeRPI.com Xavier is at No. 67, with its lone top-50 RPI win coming against eighth-rated Alabama.

Regardless of the Spiders' result at Kansas, Xavier and Richmond players realized the importance of Sunday's game in the Atlantic 10 race.

Richmond lost three of its first four A-10 games and is 2-3 in the league. Xavier, 10-6 overall, recently evened its conference record at 2-2. Both teams trail Dayton, which leads the A-10 West with a 5-0 record.

Richmond is playing its third straight road game, with the Kansas game coming between trips to Temple and Xavier. Had it not been for that, Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright said he might have been worried about his team's focus after an emotional win at Kansas.

"Our focal points were on the Atlantic 10 games with Temple and Xavier," Wainwright said. "Those are the best of the Atlantic 10. If it was another out-of-conference game or against a rebuilding program, it might be a problem. But you always know what you're going to get against Xavier."

A hint of rivalry exists between the Musketeers and Spiders. Two seasons ago, a postgame scuffle broke out as the teams made their way to the locker rooms following a Xavier win at Richmond. Last season, Richmond upset Xavier in Cintas Center, handing the Musketeers their only home loss.

"They beat us last year here," Xavier senior Lionel Chalmers said. "And I think we understand that whether they won or lost (to Kansas), it wouldn't matter. We'd still have to play them."

Richmond has no local rivalry to match the ones Xavier has with Cincinnati and Dayton, so the Spiders look at the Musketeers, successful in-conference opponents, as their chief rivals.

"They're at the top of the food chain in the A-10," Wainwright said. "They wear a jersey with a bull's-eye on it."

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com