Men’s basketball never trailed at the Barclays Center Thursday afternoon, as a team-leading 19-point performance by sophomore forward Yuta Watanabe guided No.5-seed GW to a 73–65 victory over No.13-seed Saint Louis in round two of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
A balanced team effort which saw four Colonials score in double-figures, plus a debilitating 17 turnovers committed by its opponent, helped GW overcome a 49 percent Billikens’ shooting clip and advance to the A-10 quarterfinal against Saint Joseph’s.
“I thought we did a lot of good things but give Saint Louis credit, they shot the heck out of the ball last night and again today and it kept them in the game,” head coach Mike Lonergan said. “Yuta got off to a great start which really helped us, I thought Tyler [Cavanaugh] did a really good job on the glass in second-half. We’re happy to be in this position to have a chance to fight for another top-50 win.”
Redshirt junior forward Tyler Cavanaugh, who scored 13 points, led GW (23-9, 11-7 A-10) with eight boards to contribute to a narrow 30-29 edge on boards for the Colonials, while senior guard Joe McDonald racked up a season-high 10 assists in the eight-point win.
“That’s big for us, when our point guard’s pushing the pace and dishing the ball while we’ve got guys knocking down shots,” Cavanaugh said. “Yuta was 70 percent from the floor, [Garino] made two big threes, Matt Hart made a big one, Kevin too, so we’ve just got to keep doing that.”
Although the Billikens (11-21, 5-13 A-10) shot an impressive 10-for-18 from deep, the Colonials nearly matched them from long-range, going 9-for-23 as senior swingman Patricio Garino (10 points), Watanabe, and senior forward Kevin Larsen (10 points) each had a pair.
The second-round victory was also Watanabe’s second consecutive game as GW’s leading scorer, following a 22-point showing at Davidson last week. The sophomore went 7-for-10 from the field and said he feels more confident in his shooting stroke.
Watanabe started 3-for-3 from the field to open the contest, while five different Colonials scored four points or more in the frame on a 45.2 percent team clip.
“Even though I was struggling the last few games like, everyone talked to me like ‘keep shooting, don’t worry about it,’ so I could have stayed confident and today I hit the first three shots,” Watanabe said. “I played with the right mentality.”
With strong play down-low the Colonials jumped to a 12–4 lead while the Billikens began the game flat-footed, committing five early turnovers before GW had any.
Midway through the half, Lonergan got his bench involved with a five-man switch, allowing Matt Hart, Alex Mitola, Anthony Swan, Collin Goss and Paul Jorgensen to see a few minutes on the Barclays Center hardwood.
At the same time, Saint Louis surged. As GW’s starters returned, the Billikens were in the midst of a 7–2 run that would cut the Colonials’ lead to just 21–18, propelled by a strong rebounding effort. Both teams collected 14 boards in the half.
But back-to-back three-pointers from Garino and Mitola helped their team pull ahead again to a commanding 31–22 edge. Saint Louis finished the frame shooting 50 percent to GW’s 45.2, but their nine first-half turnovers aided the Colonials’ in securing a 33–27 halftime lead.
In the second half, both squads were explosive from beyond the arc. Every time it seemed GW was about to run away with score, the Billikens had answers from deep.
After the Colonials secured a 13-point lead early in the final frame off a 10-0 offensive run, Saint Louis responded with six straight long-balls to bring its deficit down to just 60–55.
But GW was equally unrelenting, and had help from Saint Louis who put the Colonials in the bonus with 10 minutes left in regulation. The victors hit 16-of-22 from the line on the day to the Billikens’ 5-of-6.
Twelve bench points and 10 steals on the day also allowed GW to hold on for the revenge win over Saint Louis, who bested them 65–62 on Jan. 6.
The Colonials will take on Saint Joseph’s Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the A-10 quarterfinal in a decision that will likely make or break GW’s chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
“[Saint Joseph’s] has got a lot of scoring ability so we’re going to change defenses, do some different things and we’re going to have to get something out of our bench,” Lonergan said. “They have a really good team, they’re hungry for win, we’re both playing for a lot so hopefully it’s a great game.”
