What: Men’s basketball (8-3) vs. No. 11 Wichita State (10-1)
Where: Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, ESPN2/WatchESPN
When: Thursday, Dec. 25 at 8:30 p.m.
It’s no secret what head coach Mike Lonergan wants for Christmas: a tournament title.
Asking Santa won’t be enough, though, and even leaving out milk and cookies won’t do the trick. He’ll need his squad to beat the No. 11 team in the country to get everything on his list when the Colonials take on the Shockers in the finals of the Diamond Head Classic on Thursday.
A GW win would be a huge upset, and the team would have to run the pace of the game and get contributions up and down the roster to make it Hawaii 3-0.
The case for Wichita State:
Calling Wichita State the Shockers is slightly ironic: This is a team that churns out wins, not one that sucker punches opponents while ignoring fundamentals. If the Shockers start grinding it out in the half-court, the likes of Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker and Tekele Cotton will snipe, steal and strategize the game away.
Led by that trio of exceptional guards, the Shockers play like a team. They’re averaging nearly 15 assists per game, while opponents are putting together less than nine.
The Shockers also knocked off Seton Hall – a team that beat GW – earlier this season. Simply put, they’re a cut above every non-Virginia team the Colonials have faced this year.
The case for GW:
For the Colonials, the trick will be to get all the pieces clicking at once. Joe McDonald battled for 38 minutes against Colorado in the tournament’s semifinals Tuesday, and even with a day’s rest he would be hard pressed to carry the team like he did against the Buffaloes. If Kevin Larsen is on the upswing of his game-to-game yo-yo act and Patricio Garino gets going, the Colonials could use their balance to keep up with the Shockers.
Wichita State has won 42 of its past 43 games against unranked, non-conference opponents, but the Shockers have had a couple scares lately. Before creaming Loyola Marymount by 27 points in the first round of the tournament, the Shockers escaped losing to Alabama by a single point and needed overtime to top Hawaii by one on Tuesday.
GW will face a team on tired legs after the Shockers played overtime in a game that was tougher than they expected. VanVleet and Cotton each played 41 minutes.
The Colonials may also have history on their side after they got their biggest win of the year against Creighton during the Wooden Legacy Tournament last year. It’s a matchup that’s sure to be in the back of some players’ and fans’ minds as GW looks for an even bigger upset.
