The Colonials’ California layover en route to Honolulu was a productive one Tuesday night, as GW downed Sacramento State 59-47 on the back of sophomore Joseph Katuka’s double-double.
Katuka scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked four shots – all career highs – while senior Rob Diggs paced the Colonials with 14 points and added eight boards of his own.
The duo’s production inside seems to have been key for GW, as the numbers indicate they struggled to generate much offense from the outside. The team made just three of 16 attempts from beyond the arc, with senior three-point specialist Noel Wilmore connecting on just two of his 10 tries.
GW’s free-throw shooting struggles, which they appeared to have overcome lately, reappeared tonight. The Colonials made just 16 of 30 shots from the charity stripe, with Katuka’s one make in seven attempts being the main culprit and perhaps the only glaring blemish in his performance.
More encouraging for the team was the 41-28 rebounding advantage they enjoyed over the Hornets. Besides the production of Katuka and Diggs on the boards, Wilmore also collected a season-high five rebounds while junior Damian Hollis added four.
The Hornets struggled from the floor, shooting just over 17 percent in the first half and only 27.7 percent (13 of 47) for the game.
GW Sports has the brief AP recap, which mistakenly refers to Katuka as a senior and has some statistical discrepancies with the box score.