What: GW (17-9, 7-6 A-10) vs. Richmond (14-12, 7-6 A-10)
Where: Robins Center, Richmond, Va., CBS Sports Network
When: Saturday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m.
GW travels to Richmond on Saturday for a game in which both teams will be playing to get back on track and avoid falling to .500 in conference.
While the Colonials are on a three-game skid, Richmond has gone 2-3 over its last five games, including a home loss to Rhode Island and an overtime defeat at the hands of George Mason.
It’s unlikely that the Colonials will break the slide with an X’s and O’s approach. Instead, it’s a matter of whether the team will find itself again in time to get out of the current tailspin.
GW, on paper, is still the more talented team, and the Colonials match up well with the Spiders. But a win on the road will take a different level of play than what has come in the last couple weeks.
The case for Richmond:
The Spiders will be hosting a “Red Out” game at the Robins Center, and though the Colonials won the last game between the two squads in Richmond last year, GW has had very little success on the road this season.
Most of the Colonials’ struggles of late have come on the defensive end, and they’ll get no help from the Spiders in denying shots via turnovers. Richmond commits the second-fewest turnovers in the Atlantic 10 at 9.9 per game.
The Spiders, led by Kendall Anthony’s 16.6 points per game from the backcourt, are draining nearly seven three-pointers per game, while the Colonials have struggled to stop the three ball in recent contests.
The case for GW:
The Colonials have done better when they have been able to get an inside game going, which they should be able to do against the Spiders. Richmond ranks last in the A-10 in rebounding margin at -5.5 per game.
After scoring most of his baskets off rebounds in his latest outing, junior Kevin Larsen could dominate inside on Saturday. He recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds in GW’s double-overtime win over Richmond earlier this season.
Larsen could get an even bigger edge with the absence of the team’s top shot blocker in Alonzo Nelson-Ododa.
A bright spot for GW has been the play of freshman Paul Jorgensen, who scored nine points against Davidson and seems to have kept some of the attitude and confidence the team as a whole has lacked. If Jorgensen can keep it up, especially with the scoring issues junior Kethan Savage has had, it could go a long way in helping the Colonials keep pace with Richmond’s outside threats.
