What: No. 5-seed Men’s basketball (21-12, 10-8 A-10) vs. No. 4-seed Pittsburgh (19-14, 8-10 ACC), First round of National Invitation Tournament
When: Tuesday, March 17 at 7 p.m.
Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pa., ESPN
After a 71-58 defeat at the hands of Rhode Island in the Atlantic-10 Championship quarterfinal the Colonials return to action in their second consecutive postseason appearance, taking on Pittsburgh in the first round of the NIT.
No. 5-seed GW will travel to the Steel City for a matchup with the No. 4 seed Panthers for the first time since 2004. Barring an upset, Tuesday night’s winner will earn the right to battle No. 1 seed Temple in the second round. The Owls will play No. 8 seed Bucknell on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference that sent six teams to the NCAA tournament this year, began their season strongly and even took down powerhouses like No. 8 Notre Dame and then-No. 12 North Carolina in conference play.
A once promising bubble team dropped its final three games of the regular season before being eliminated from the ACC Tournament in the second-round by NCAA Tournament-bound NC State. The Panthers are favored by three points, but expect a close contest between two unfamiliar teams.
The Case for Pittsburgh:
Sophomore forwards Jamel Artis and Michael Young steer a Pittsburgh offense that is shooting a 44.6 percent clip from the field, averaging 13.8 and 13.5 points per game, respectively.
Senior guard Cameron Wright, despite battling injury for much of season, anchors the Panthers’ backcourt averaging 9.2 points in his 25 games played this year. Junior guard James Robinson averages 8.8 points per game and rounds out the offense with a team-high 5.1 assists.
Pittsburgh holds the seventh-best assist average in the nation in fact, posting an average of 16.5 per game to GW’s 11.7, second worst in the A-10. The Colonials were outscored 24-20 in the paint in their quarterfinal loss to URI and the Panthers also have the potential to solve GW’s defense down low with good ball movement.
The Case for GW:
Each member of the Colonials’ junior core four is currently averaging double digits in scoring. The third-years are led by guard Patricio Garino’s average of 12.4 points per game, while junior forward Kevin Larsen is averaging a team-best 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.
GW holds a clear edge on the Panthers on the boards, averaging 37 rebounds per game to Pittsburgh’s 33. The Colonials were able to outrebound URI 42-39 last game and will have a better chance at besting the Panthers if they can continue to dominate the glass.
Despite going just 1-16 from three in their last game, GW is also shooting the three-ball better than their ACC opponent with an average of 35 percent from beyond the arc to Pittsburgh’s 34.2. Senior forward John Kopriva, playing for the right to continue his career as a Colonial Tuesday, leads his team with a 46.2 three-point percentage.
The Colonials scoring defense is also more proficient than Pittsburgh’s, conceding an average of just 61.4 points per game, ranking them 50th in the nation. If GW can find a way to score on the road and stay tough on defense the team may be able to steal this one from the home team.
