ATLANTIC CITy, N.J. - As senior guard Ricky Harris watched television coverage of higher seeds Syracuse and Villanova losing quarterfinal games in the Big East Tournament on Thursday, he got excited thinking about the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team playing tonight in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals.

"During tournament time, anybody can beat anybody," Harris said. "No matter where you're seeded, it's the tournament and wins are up for grabs. Whoever wants it is going to take it.

"I think we're focused," he added. "We're ready. We have two big wins back-to-back. Hopefully it can carry over and we come out with the same energy ... It's do or die right now. I'm trying to make this moment last as long as I can."

The 11th-seeded Minutemen (12-19) play No. 3 Richmond (24-7) at 9 p.m. at Boardwalk Hall.

UMass or the Spiders will advance to the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday to face the winner of tonight's game at 6:30 between No. 2 Xavier and No. 7 Dayton.

Richmond (24-7) won the regular-season meeting against the visiting Minutemen 70-63 in overtime on Jan. 13. That game featured 14 blocked shots by Spider big man Darrius Garrett, the second-best single game total in Division I history. However, the swat total was an aberration for Garrett, who has only 58 total blocks this season.

"Hopefully we can get into his body and draw fouls a little bit," Harris said. "We have to continue playing the way we've been playing and attacking the basket."

Richmond junior guard Kevin Anderson, who was named the Atlantic 10 player of the year, scored 19 points in that game and is averaging 17.8 points and 2.7 assists this season.

UMass and the Spiders are both coming off close wins over Charlotte. The Minutemen beat the 49ers 59-56 on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament.

Richmond upended Charlotte 89-84 in overtime in their final regular-season game Saturday. It was the 10th win in the Spiders' last 11 games, which helped them finish third in the A-10 and earn a bye for Tuesday's first round. The lone blemish in that stretch was a 78-76 loss at Xavier in double overtime.

UMass coach Derek Kellogg said the Minutemen tonight will take an approach similar to the one that nearly earned them an upset win in January.

"I think it's a similar game plan. It was so long ago that both teams have changed a little bit," Kellogg said. "I don't think they shot the ball well when we were down there. That concerns me."

Richmond is particularly dangerous from 3-point range. Their .350 shooting percentage is second in the league and each of their top four scorers is shooting at least 34 percent.

Senior guard David Gonzalvez is best at 36.7 percent. He is the Spiders' second leading scorer at 14.3 points per game.

The biggest advantage for UMass appears to be on the glass. The Minutemen lead the A-10 with 40.2 rebounds per game, while Richmond is 13th at 32.7. A poor-shooting night could be costly for the Spiders, who average just nine offensive rebounds per game.

"It's big because you can't give them extra opportunities," Kellogg said. "That would be one of the keys to the game if we can dominate the boards on both ends."

BUBBLE TEAMS - Today's Atlantic 10 Tournament games will get some national attention because three teams on the bubble for NCAA at-large bid consideration will be in action.

No. 5 Rhode Island will face No. 4 Saint Louis at 2:30 p.m. Despite losing to UMass on Saturday, the Rams still have a decent shot of getting in the NCAA Tournament. The Billikens are in contention as well, but might need to get to the finals of the A-10 tournament to earn a bid.

No. 7 Dayton faltered down the stretch and could improve its chances greatly if it upsets No. 2 Xavier in the 6:30 p.m. game.

Top-seed Temple will face No. 8 St. Bonaventure at noon.

TV COVERAGE - The UMass-Richmond game will be broadcast by the CBS College Sports syndication package, but no New England station has picked it up. Fans with satellite TV may be able to find it on Comcast Sports South, Cox RI, TCN Mid-Atlantic, or FSN Ohio depending on their tier of service.

The Saturday semifinal games will be broadcast by CBS College Sports and the final at 1 p.m. Sunday will be on CBS.

TICKETS - Tickets remain for each of the sessions of the A-10 Tournament. They can be purchased in advance through TicketMaster or at the Boardwalk Hall Box Office.

ARACHNOPHOBIA - Richmond has been a difficult opponent for UMass this year in most sports, which is 2-6 in games against the Spiders.

The women's basketball and field hockey teams were both knocked out of A-10 Tournaments by Richmond.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.