Ben Krimmel, a senior majoring in international affairs, is a Hatchet columnist.

The Colonials had a mission for the Atlantic 10 Tournament: Avoid being “one and done.” With a hard-fought 85-77 win over Massachusetts, it was mission accomplished.

Now with one A-10 win under their belts, GW has nothing more they need to prove to the NCAA Tournament selection committee. And that may be a good thing, because after a physical 40 minutes Friday, they may have nothing left in the tank for Saturday.

The Colonials only get 17-hours between the buzzer vs. the Minutemen to prepare for the pressure defense of VCU.

As head coach Mike Lonergan spent the game heaping abuse on the referees and motivating his players, VCU head coach Shaka Smart sat across the court, calmly waiting for his team’s opponent to step forward.

And despite the Colonials only having a few hours disadvantage when it comes to rest, they played a vastly tougher game than the Rams did. Tired legs will likely play a bigger role than skill on the ball come 4 p.m. Saturday.

But as this GW season has taught many around the A-10: the “on-paper” matchup is rarely an accurate prediction of the outcome.

After the win over UMass, Lonergan reminded the assembled media that they predicted his Colonials to finish tenth in the conference. GW finished third. Nemanja Mikic reminded everybody in the world that he could make open shots — pouring in 14 points in 12 minutes of reserve duty. And in case anybody needed this reminder, in college basketball, March is the month of unexpected results.

In the first two meetings this season between GW and VCU, there were few constants: hot shooting, tough defense and a plethora of turnovers.

In the first meeting, GW shot 54.4 percent, while committing a total of 43 turnovers, but used its 1-3-1 zone to harass, and all but control, the VCU offense—earning a 10-point victory.

But in that game the Colonials had guard Kethan Savage to help handle the pressure. Savage was out with injury during GW’s 17-point loss to VCU in the second matchup and will likely not play today.

Last night, when the Minutemen brought pressure in the second half, GW struggled to adjust to the pace. The VCU pressure is even more of a pest and can kill a team short on ball handlers, short on energy and short on time to prepare. The Colonials are all three.

But it will take more than a short turnaround after an emotional, physical game to dampen the spirit of these Colonials.

The lasting memory of GW’s game last night was the physical pounding the Colonials took without showing an ounce of quit. The beating from UMass big man Cady Lalanne was unrelenting, but GW forwards Isaiah Armwood and Kevin Larsen were unyielding.

Against VCU they will have to deal with Mo Alie-Cox — an ox man at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, known as one of the most physically imposing players in the conference. The GW guards, on the other hand, will have to deal with Brainte Weber harassing them for all 94 feet of Barclays Center court.

But the box score doesn’t tell the story of a game, past performances don’t tell the story of a team and anything can happen Saturday afternoon.