Joe McDonald, Patricio Garino and Kevin Larsen, all members of the junior “core four” of the team, scored 10 points or more, 12 for McDonald and Garino and 10 for Larsen. They were joined by Yuta Watanabe, the only player outside that junior quartet that Lonergan was referencing in his preseason comments, who co-led the team with 12 points while also adding six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
It marked the second straight game when Watanabe was hot shooting the ball. He scored a career-high 21 points on 7-10 shooting, all from beyond the arc, against UMass in the regular season finale, a resurgent performance for Watanabe that’s helped GW get out of a slump using a hot hand.
“Lately, we’ve gotten our confidence,” said head coach Mike Lonergan. “Part of that is Yuta. He had a lot of games where he’s 1-for-5, 0-for-5, and now he’s bounced back. And when he hits shots early, he was terrific. That gave us team confidence.”
In moments on Thursday night, it finally looked like Watanabe had been eating his wheaties. He had three offensive rebounds and it was he who finally got the tipin on a play midway through the first half that took three offensive rebounds for GW to get a basket. Watanabe had the best position in the low post and fought his way up for two points.
It came amid a fantastic stretch for the rookie. He hit a three-pointer on GW’s next possession, then dished the ball to Joe McDonald who drained a triple of his own on the possession after that. Lonergan subbed out three guys, but left Watanabe on the court.
“Well, I’m practicing every night by myself. So I got confidence, like every time, so I just take shots,” Watanabe said.
On the next play, Watanabe swiped the ball from Duquesne’s star shooting guard Micah Mason. The ball ended up in the hands of Paul Jorgensen who misfired, but he got another chance and sank a three after Watanabe was there for the offensive rebound.
Watanabe started the season strong, averaging eight points per game through January 17th.
He was a welcome burst of offense in a team that didn’t score much, winning games with defense instead. But GW was still winning, so head coach Mike Lonergan went with an if-it-ain’t-broke approach, continuing to focus on defense and counting Watanabe’s smooth stroke as an extra blessing.
But then it did break. The defensive juggernaut disappeared as February rolled around, giving up a season-high 78 points at Duquesne on Feb. 11 and then doing it again when VCU scored 79 three days later in the Smith Center.
Then, when it really mattered that the team couldn’t score, Watanabe averaged 4.5 points per game in the 12 games between January 17th and the UMass game.
Garino attributed the slump to better scouting by teams who “knew he was a shooter” and forced him into more contested shots, but with his confidence low, Watanabe also stopped shooting the ball. It was normal for him to take seven or eight shots in a game for much of the season, but starting in late January that changed. Even when he moved into the starting lineup, he had performances like his 1-3 night at Richmond. The Colonials suffered seven of their 11 losses of the season in that 12-game stretch.
The bulk of that is certainly not on Watanabe’s shoulders. He’s a freshman who, with a holistic eye towards the season, has lived up to the high expectations set for him at the beginning of the season.
But it still didn’t help. Performances like he put on against UMass and against Duquesne, though, certainly do. Not everything has to fall – sandwiching that stretch against the Dukes were two missed threes and the young player finished 5-12, good for the most misses of any GW player – but Watanabe has teammates there to remind him of that.
“He was one of our best shooters, clearly, so we just tell him to keep shooting and be confident with the shot,” McDonald said. “He’s got a nice stroke. He’s a lot taller when he plays the three position, he’s a lot taller than the other guards he goes up against. So he has a height advantage to shoot over them. Just be confident.”
The Colonials would love for him to go 7-10 every night, but that’s unrealistic. But 5-12 works too, so Watanabe’s coaches and teammates have a simple piece of advice for him: Keep shooting, Yuta.
