What: Men’s basketball (20-7, 9-5 A-10) at Richmond (14-12, 6-8 A-10)
Where: The Robins Center, Richmond, Va., ASN, MASN2 (TV)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.
On Jan. 28 at the Smith Center, a stunning three-pointer from sophomore guard Paul Jorgensen sent the Colonials and Spiders to overtime. If GW had won that game, it may have been one of the most memorable plays of the season.
Instead, Richmond defeated the Colonials, 98–90 in double-overtime, one of just two teams to defeat them on their home floor. Wednesday night in Richmond, GW tries to return the favor.
The Colonials enter the matchup hot off a lopsided 90–50 decision over last-place LaSalle this Sunday, and are in search of their third consecutive victory after bouncing back from two straight losses.
The Spiders have dropped two in a row, at Davidson and at VCU, but will defend an overall 9-5 home record as they try regain some ground in league play, where they’ve gone a disappointing 6-8.
The case for the Colonials:
In the 40-point victory Sunday, GW shot lights-out. The Colonials posted an impressive 58 percent shooting clip from the field, and hit 14 three-pointers against the Explorers, both season-highs.
Redshirt junior forward led the Colonials with 22 points in that contest, and averages a team-best 16.7 per game. Senior swingman Patricio Garino follows closely with 13.8 points, while senior forward Kevin Larsen secures a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game. Garino and Larsen each led the team with 17 points in GW’s last meeting against Richmond.
The Colonials biggest advantage will be on the glass. GW averages 38.6 boards per game to Richmond’s 32.4, and outrebounded the Spiders 41–33, with the Colonials’ bigs combining for 24.
While GW conceded 98 points to Richmond last month, its defense has seen improvement as of late, and allows an average of 68.4 points per game on the season to the Spiders’ 74.3.
The visiting squad has won three of its last four road games, and will look to improve its overall 6–4 record away from home.
The case for the Spiders:
Richmond, averaging nearly 78 points per game to GW’s 75.5, exploded offensively in last month’s meeting. The Spiders shot a lethal 60 percent clip from the field in the 8-point win, going an impressive 11-for-19 from deep.
But it wasn’t the Spiders’ usual suspects, leading scorers Terry Allen (18.2 PPG) and T.J. Cline (17.2 PPG), who wreaked havoc against the GW defense. Instead, juniors ShawnDre’ Jones and Marshall Wood led their squad with 29 and 22 points each, respectively, as Wood shot a stellar 7-of-8 from three-point range.
The Colonials were also held to just 37.3 percent shooting from the field and even more disheartening 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from three-point range.
Richmond leads the league in assists with an average of 17.2 per game, as well as field goal percentage at 49.1 percent and posts a conference-best 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Spiders already know what it takes to defeat GW, and if they can get ahead of the Colonials fast and catch fire again offensively, the Colonials could experience some trouble.
The bottom line:
With four games remaining and NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, GW’s trip to Richmond will be a test of focus. The Colonials have the tools and experience to take down the middle-of-the-road Spiders, it will just be a question of which team wants the W most, and GW has a lot more to lose.
