PITTSBURGH — Ten minutes into the GW men’s basketball team’s game against Duquesne Saturday night, Karl Hobbs dismissed his team’s play with a brisk wave of his hand.
Duquesne’s Shawn James had just scored two of his 21 points, his team was down 34-12, and Hobbs turned his back toward the court and waved his hand in disgust. It appeared like he simply could not bear to watch what was happening in front of him. And when the Dukes won 92-67 at A.J. Polumbo Center, Hobbs saw GW remain winless in eight road games. It was the first time GW lost to Duquesne since 2002.
It is also the first time since the 1989-1990 season that the Colonials lost eight straight on the road.
Fifteen games into the season with an 0-8 record on the road, winning away from Smith Center seems to have become hopeless. In the loss in front of 3,331 rambunctious fans, the Colonials (5-10, 1-4 Atlantic 10) could not have seemed more out of place. On multiple occasions, passes went flying out of bounds due to either miscommunications or players being in the wrong spot on the floor.
Turnovers once again plagued GW as they have done all season – this time with the Colonials giving up the ball 29 times. Many of those were a result to the high-tempo level of play that Duquesne (13-5, 3-2 A-10) uses to keep control of the game.
The Dukes also took advantage of GW’s lack of a true point guard, pressing from the moment the Colonials received the ball and often causing turnovers before the ball was past half court.
“We played against a team that exploited the weakest part of our game, which is the backcourt,” Hobbs said. “We’re trying to get through a season without a point guard. This is the first team to really exploit that. Their speed and pressure took us out of everything we tried to do.”
Hobbs said after the game that his goal entering the competition was to limit Duquesne to scoring less than its season average, which is third in the nation at 85.6 points per game. But turnovers by GW led to Duquesne’s fast breaks and easy perimeter jump shots.
“I was hoping to get the ball up court and make some shots ourselves,” Hobbs said. “Our defense, when we needed stops, just did not get the job done. We exerted so much energy just getting the ball over half court, and that’s where our focus stayed.”
All season, in order to fill the gaping hole at the point, Hobbs has had to go to his bench, trying to find the right player to bring the ball up court. Not only was GW’s bench unable to contribute in an effective way but the Dukes took full advantage of their second-string players. Duquesne’s eight bench players, five of whom played for at least 13 minutes, contributed 37 points coming from their eight second-string players. The constant substituting not only gave Duquesne’s players opportunities to rest but also kept the Colonials from ever establishing a rhythm of their own.
The Colonials next face Saint Joseph’s Jan. 30 at Smith Center at 7 p.m.
