Men’s basketball (14-6, 3-4 A-10) lost to La Salle (11-9, 2-5 A-10) 80-70 on Saturday night in the Smith Center after the team made a season-low 16.7 percent of their 3-point attempts, leading to their third-consecutive loss.
The Revs struggled to shoot from three all game, ultimately resulting in another loss. The third-straight loss pushes GW down to seventh in the Atlantic 10 Conference as GW tries to stay competitive in the division as they enter the late-season stretch.
The Revs went 3-18 from 3-point range after missing their first seven attempts. By halftime, the team was trailing 37-33 after shooting 2-10 from the three while the visiting Explorers went 5-12.
Redshirt freshman Darren Buchanan Jr. left the game just before the 15-minute mark in the second half after tweaking his knee. He returned shortly after and finished the game with 24 points on 8-18 shots as well as 12 rebounds and three assists. Senior guard James Bishop IV was second on the team in scoring with 17 points on 7-17 from the field, along with three rebounds and four assists.
Both teams started the game struggling to shoot the ball, with the Revs leading 9-3 just over five minutes after tip-off. La Salle quickly made their way back and once the Explorers took the lead, they never relinquished it.
The second half saw the Revs looking to attack the basket more and get to the foul line. La Salle committed 17 fouls, 11 of which came in the second half, and resulted in 19 points for the Revs, 8 of which belonged to Buchanan, who stormed into the paint and drew 10 attempts from the charity stripe.
“[Buchanan] brings a lot of toughness to the game, it’s really hard to stop him from getting downhill,” Bishop said. “We knew that they didn’t allow a bunch of threes, so we knew it was going to be a big try to get to the rim game.”
There were several stretches in the game where GW attempted to retake the lead, but the Revs struggled to get stops on defense. In all of the team’s six losses this season, their opponent made at least eight 3-pointers. La Salle netted 10 at a 52.6 percent clip.
Head Coach Chris Caputo took accountability for the team’s defensive performance.
“I have to do a better job with this group figuring out how to put functioning two-way players on the court together at the same time,” Caputo said. “I think the challenge is how many good defenders are on the floor because, ultimately, you’re going to have to make people miss.”
Still, the Revs forced 12 turnovers but routinely missed opportunities to score in transition. Despite the team winning the turnover battle by a margin of three, the Explorers were able to match GW’s 10 points off turnovers.
“It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Caputo said. “I’ve coached teams that literally have been the best points per possession, transition offensive teams in the country multiple times. We didn’t change anything about how we talked about it.”
Regardless of winning or losing, Caputo’s message to the team has remained the same.
“Doesn’t matter; get better,” Caputo said. “It’s always the answer.”
The Revs will try to end their three-game losing streak as they travel to UD Arena on Tuesday to face the nation’s 16th-ranked Dayton Flyers at 7 p.m.
