Where: Chaifetz Arena, Saint Louis, Mo.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. ET
GW plays its first road game of the A-10 season on Wednesday at Saint Louis. The Colonials are the favorite to win against an inexperienced and struggling Billikens squad but, hey, at least no one is moving to Los Angeles.
Here’s what to expect from the game:
The case for the Colonials:
The majority of GW’s starting lineup can remember years in which Saint Louis was the toughest game on the schedule. But amid a slow rebuild, the Billikens are a team GW should be able to beat up on, if they bring the energy.
Saint Louis has lost by large margins in many games because the team gives up big runs. Last in the A-10 at 7.2 offensive rebounds per game and committing 14.7 turnovers per game, the Billikens have given opponents too many extra chances to stay competitive in many games.
That has led to a scoring offense that ranks 13th in the league in both points per game (64.0) and rebounds per game (33.1). An injury-ridden Rhode Island, playing without its best front-court presence in Hassan Martin, still outrebounded Saint Louis 38-26 in the Billikens’ most recent game.
The case for the Billikens:
The first part of the season has likely been disillusioning from the Billikens, but they should certainly enter the game hungry for a win. Saint Louis is 1-8 in their last nine games, with the lone win coming against Alabama A&M at home on Dec. 12 in a game in which the Billikens made nine three-pointers.
Saint Louis has a trio of players scoring in double figures, led by Ash Yacoubou at 11.1 points per game along with Miles Reynolds (10.5) and Milik Yarbrough (10.1). Yarbrough leads the team in rebounds with 6.2 per game.
For GW, winning on the road is never a small task. GW’s road loss at DePaul seems like an anomaly, with two top players compromised (Tyler Cavanaugh by an ankle injury and Patricio Garino by illness), but it exposed the way some players reacted to the beating. Garino, for instance, said that GW’s bounce-back win over UCF helped the team regain confidence, while senior Kevin Larsen said they never lost any. Playing away from home can affect players in different ways, and it’s possible it could affect this game as well.
Saint Louis’ home court is certainly a better place for the team to try to up its defensive ante, so expect to see the Billikens trying to show energy in their man coverage. Head coach Jim Crews told the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch last week that the team has been practicing a zone defense, but that the coaching staff does not think that it looks good enough to use in a game.
The bottom line: Fun fact: Both Reynolds and head coach Mike Lonergan have used the word “lackadaisical” in the last week to describe their respective teams’ efforts on defense. While the word choice is amusing, the coincidence illustrates how quickly the tone of a game can shift if one team seems to be playing for more than the other. This is GW’s game to lose, but, in conference play especially, the team will need their play to bring other words to mind.
