Joe McDonald must like the holidays.
Last Thanksgiving, McDonald was the gravy on top of GW’s non-conference resume-building, overtime statement-making, Wooden Legacy Tournament win against Miami. The then-sophomore point guard scored the game-tying bucket with three seconds to play, knocked down a trey for the first points of the extra session and dished out a dime to Isaiah Armwood that led to a momentum-defining dunk and deciding basket.
In the Colonials’ last game, McDonald got into the Christmas spirit, stuffing stat sheets instead of stockings in GW’s comeback win, 53-50, against Colorado on Tuesday.
“We’ve been in that position a lot, so I think just using past experiences,” McDonald said. “Everybody out on the floor never really panicked, and we just settled down and focused on executing what we were trying to do.”
Even though McDonald is continuing to build a history of strong performances in over-break tournaments, comparing his Miami performance to that against Colorado shows differences in his game between last year and this one. And his additional maturity and growth is a bit like the difference between gravy and a stocking.
Against Miami over a year ago, McDonald finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 35 minutes. That’s a more-than-solid line, but Nemanja Mikic’s 16 points and Isaiah Armwood’s double-double served as the main course. McDonald’s clutch layup to force overtime was the gravy on top.
Against Colorado – in an important game to keep the Colonials’ hopes of March Madness alive – McDonald led the team with 14 points and 38 minutes on the court and also tied for a team lead with six rebounds. He was the most efficient shooter on the team who took more than one shot, going 6-10 from the field.
“Joe McDonald really battled. I thought he was they key for us to win,” head coach Mike Lonergan said. “Joe was the one guy who took advantage of the in-between game. He gets huge rebounds for us.”
With the team going through an offensive drought, McDonald was there with a pull up and pop jumper to propel his team back into the game. Over a nearly two-minute stretch late in the second half, McDonald did it all. He then stole the ball, leading to another basket, and capped a 6-0 run at the 3:51 mark with another layup. That put the Colonials back up by a point.
“Knowing that someone has gotta make a big play [helped],” McDonald said. “We were just hoping that someone could make a play like that and it happened for us.”
Now, McDonald did not knock down the game winner against Colorado. With the game tied, he pulled up and popped again – but missed. A little over a minute remained, and the Colonials were still locked in a tie. Not every item in a stocking is a hit – anyone ever get nine pairs of socks? – but it still has to get filled up all the way.
Whether it’s gravy or stocking stuffers, GW has found McDonald to be an essential part of any holiday. In Hawaii, the Colonials have advanced to the big finale on ESPN2. McDonald has been versatile, and against Wichita State’s 6-foot-4, 220-pound redshirt junior guard Ron Baker, GW will need McDonald at the table to take down the No. 11-ranked team in the country.
