GREENSBORO, N.C. – The euphoria that was the 2005-2006 GW men’s basketball season came to a disappointing yet somewhat expected end with a 74-61 loss March 18 at the Greensboro Coliseum to the top seed in the NCAA Tournament, Duke University.
With the buzzer, the careers of four core members of the GW men’s basketball team ended.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Omar Williams, Mike Hall and Alex Kireev have seen everything from a 5-11 Atlantic 10 record to a perfect conference mark; a first-round NIT exit to a round of 32 loss to the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament.
And for head coach Karl Hobbs, even though a trip to the round of 16 was in the cards with a victory last Saturday, the contest had obvious distractions.
“Those guys have meant so much to me, and I don’t know how you can replace core guys like that,” a visibly upset Hobbs said Sunday. “They’re the absolute best.”
With the second-round exit in the Atlanta bracket, the Colonials end the 2005-2006 season at 27-3 and go down in history as one of the best teams in University history.
“It doesn’t really feel too good to lose,” Mensah-Bonsu said. “If we’re going to lose, I’d rather lose to a team that was better than us on that day, and Duke was the better team today.”
But for the big man, who flirted with leaving GW early for the professional ranks, the last four years have been about breaking through the purported glass ceiling placed above the boys from Foggy Bottom.
“It’s been great – some of the things we’ve been able to accomplish, when you look at people’s expectations,” Mensah-Bonsu said of his time at GW. “It’s tough not to be sad about a loss, but we were able to accomplish a lot this year.”
Disappointment about the season is not justified, junior Danilo (J.R.) Pinnock said.
“Look at our r?sum?,” said Pinnock, who scored eight points and gave up three turnovers. “We’ve got nothing to be disappointed about. We’ve changed the way basketball is looked at (at GW).”
The way GW lost this one is especially tough and left assistant coach Roland Houston wondering.
“What if we played our ‘B’ game?” Houston said, while contending that the Colonials played their “C-minus game.”
Shooting 30.9 percent from the floor and giving up 18 turnovers was uncharacteristic for the high-flying, run-and-gun GW squad. The Blue Devils shot 47.7 percent and handled all the pressure GW attempted to exert.
Hall, a forward from Chicago, seemed to guide the often-flustered Colonials. Shooting four-for-nine from the floor and grabbing six rebounds, Hall had 13 points to lead GW. Omar Williams had his second double-double of March with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
For a team that has been criticized for its unbalanced offense, Duke dispelled any idea of that Saturday. Senior guard J.J. Redick, an All-American and leading candidate for player of the year, had 20 points and four three pointers. Freshman guard Greg Paulus had 10 points, six assists and six turnovers, while classmate Josh McRoberts exerted dominance in the paint with 14 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski gave credit to his squad, saying freshman production helped.
“When my two freshmen are playing like that, it brings everybody together,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “They were playing with such enthusiasm. They’re very competitive kids, and they have such good game personalities.”
Senior All-American Shelden Williams had 17 points and 14 rebounds, pummeling the Colonials’ interior defense. Mensah-Bonsu, who drew the assignment to cover Williams, was limited in his playing time due to his sore knee, suffered against La Salle on Feb. 22. Hobbs said he did not want to jeopardize the professional future of the 6-foot-9 forward by overplaying him.
