What: Men’s basketball (3-0) vs. Georgia (2-1) (CBE Hall of Fame Classic)
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo. (TV: ESPNU)
When: Monday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. EST
The undefeated Colonials hit the road for the first time this season to battle the Georgia Bulldogs Monday night and either UAB or Kansas on Tuesday in the final legs of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
GW will search for its fourth consecutive victory against a 2-1 SEC squad that dropped its season-opener to Clemson but enters the contest with two straight wins over UNC Asheville and Furman.
The two programs last met in 2014 at the Smith Center, where GW came out on top 73-55. No current Colonials played in that game, but four current Bulldogs did.
Georgia will be the Colonials’ highest RPI opponent thus far this season (144), and a good test before likely facing college basketball powerhouse No. 7 Kansas should GW make it to the championship game.
Case for the Colonials:
Graduate student forward Tyler Cavanaugh continues to guide GW’s offense. Coming off his second double-double of the season in a 20-point win over UAPB, Cavanaugh is averaging a team-best 18.0 points and 8.7 rebounds.
Junior guard Yuta Watanabe is the second Colonial posting double-figures with an average of 11.7 points per game, and leads GW with 1.3 blocks per game. Redshirt junior guard Jaren Sina and starting freshman center Collin Smith round out the top-four scorers with 9.3 and 8.7 points per game, respectively.
While GW is shooting 41.1 percent from the field on the year to Georgia’s 45.0, its two biggest strengths through three games have been rebounding and getting to the line.
The Colonials and their bigs have been dominant under the basket, boasting 47.3 boards per game – 12th-best in the country – and are outrebounding opponents by an average margin of 17. They have also already made 78 free throws – shooting a 74.5 percent clip from the line – while opponents have combined for just 38.
However, GW will need to cut down on its 17 turnovers per game average and play consistent defense if it wants to keep this game within reach.
Case for the Bulldogs:
Georgia returns one of the best scoring duos in the nation this year in senior guard J.J. Frazier (21.7 ppg) and junior forward Yante Maten (19.0 ppg).
The pair combined for 55 points in the Bulldogs’ most recent victory, a 84-78 decision over Furman, and averaged 33.4 points per game last season – the fifth-highest total among returning duos.
Maten is guiding the team with 9.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, while Frazier owns an impressive 47.1 percent clip from three-point range and averages a team-high 4.3 assists per game.
The Bulldogs will need to ramp up their scoring – they average just 69 points per game – and battle hard on the glass, but are certainly capable of coming out on top if they can exploit GW’s weaknesses.
Bottom Line:
It will be interesting to see how the Colonials handle their first contest outside of the Smith Center and first against a power conference opponent this season. Since 2013-2014, GW is 17-9 against the NCAA’s top-five leagues. Both teams have the talent to capture a win Monday night, which will make for exciting basketball as a ticket to the CBE Hall of Fame Classic championship hangs in the balance.
