Francis scores 20 to lift Richmond past McNeese St. 87-57

RICHMOND, Va. -- Blake Francis scored 20 points and Richmond hit 16 3-pointers to beat McNeese State 87-57 on Friday night for its first 4-0 start since 1985.

Nick Sherod had 17 points with five 3-pointers for Richmond, which shot 57% from 3 and outrebounded the Cowboys 35-26. Jacob Gilyard added 15 points and six assists and Grant Golden had 10 points.

Leondre Washington had 15 points for the Cowboys (2-5), who trailed 42-27 at halftime. A.J. Lawson added 12 points and Shamarkus Kennedy had seven rebounds and three blocks.

Richmond matches up against Wisconsin on Monday. McNeese State plays Texas on the road next Saturday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com