Men’s basketball releases full non-conference schedule

Head coach Mike Lonergan talks to the men's basketball team during the A-10 Tournament last season. Hatchet File Photo — Head coach Mike Lonergan talks to the men’s basketball team during the A-10 Tournament last season. Hatchet File Photo

The men’s basketball team released the final five games of its non-conference schedule Tuesday, announcing matchups against Grambling State, Longwood, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Charlotte and the Virginia Military Institute, all to be played at the Smith Center.

The Colonials will play 13 non-conference games between Nov. 8 and Dec. 30, including the first games of five home-and-home series against teams from the ACC, Big Ten and Big East. GW will play 31 games total during the 2014-15 regular season.

The full schedule has yet to be revealed, but the Colonials have now announced the entire list of opponents after the A-10 pairings were released in May.

GW could see as many as 15 postseason teams throughout the regular season, depending on the results of the Diamond Head Classic. As many as seven of those potential opponents could come from outside A-10 play.

One of the toughest tests of the season for the Colonials will likely come Nov. 21 against ACC Champion Virginia. The game is the first of a home-and-home agreement between the two schools, and could prove a boost to the Colonials strength-of-schedule if they can hold their own against the 2014 Sweet 16 team.

The matchup against Virginia is one of 10 games against opponents from Maryland or Virginia, and one of four in the non-conference slate along with Longwood on Nov. 26, UMBC on Dec. 4 and VMI on Dec. 30 in the non-conference closer.

The Colonials will also stay close to home at the Verizon Center in the BB&T Classic on Dec. 7, when they will take on Charlotte as part of the double header also featuring a game between Georgetown and Towson.

Then-sophomore guard Joe McDonald drives toward the basket against Radford last season. Hatchet File Photo by Delaney Walsh | Photo Editor

Outside the D.C. area, the team will head to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic from Dec. 22 to 25.

The eight-team tournament field includes Colorado, Nebraska, Ohio and Wichita State, a team that, along with GW, finished the 2013-14 season ranked in the RPI Top 100 and played in the postseason. Host Hawaii, Loyola Marymount and Big East quarterfinalist DePaul, which the Colonials will host at the Smith Center on Dec. 11, round out the field.

The Colonials will see another Big East team in Seton Hall on the road Nov. 29. The Pirates finished last season an even 17-17 with a 10-8 home record, and will return four of their top seven scorers from 2013-14.

More power conference matchups come with two away games against Big Ten teams in Rutgers on Nov. 16 and Penn State on Dec. 14.

The Scarlet Knights will return three starters from last season’s team, which lost to the Colonials 93-87 at the Smith Center last season. The Nittany Lions ended the 2013-14 season in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational after sweeping powerhouse Ohio State during the regular season.

GW will unofficially begin the season at home with an exhibition game against Bloomsburg (Division II). The Colonials were unforgiving hosts last season with a 15-1 home record, but Huskies head coach John Sanow will have at least one friendly face in The Smith Center: head coach Mike Lonergan, whom he assisted when Lonergan was head coach at Vermont.

The season will open officially six days later when the Colonials host Grambling State on Nov. 14.

GW’s non-conference schedule is listed below:

11/8/2014 vs. Bloomsburg (Exhibition)

11/14/2014 vs. Grambling State

11/16/2014 at Rutgers

11/21/2014 at Virginia

11/26/2014 vs. Longwood

11/29/2014 at Seton Hall

12/4/2014 vs. UMBC

12/7/2014 vs. Charlotte (BB&T Classic)

12/11/2014 vs. DePaul

12/14/2014 at Penn State