Men’s basketball (1-0) defeated the University of Maine 67-47 in their season opener on Monday night.
The Revolutionaries started the first half slowly, maintaining a slim 29-25 lead heading into halftime, but found their spark in the second half, pulling away with an 11-0 run midway through the period. Leading the charge offensively for the Revs was graduate student forward Luke Hunger, who played 24 minutes after early foul trouble from forward Rafael Castro, recording 15 points and seven rebounds in his GW debut.
“Well, we’ve got a dog like Luke,” graduate student guard Tyrone Marshall Jr. said of Hunger.
Marshall, who was also making his Revs debut, recorded 13 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Guard Christian Jones contributed 14 points and was 6-12 from the field, with guard Bubu Benjamin adding 9 points.
It was a quiet night for Castro and junior guard Trey Autry, who combined for 13 points. Autry in particular struggled from three, going 0-5 from behind the arc and 3-8 from the field. With the team’s shooting struggles from beyond the arc, it was Jones, Marshall and Hunger who drove the basket to find points and create open looks.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Revs forced 15 turnovers and hauled down 30 rebounds, with the majority of the boards coming from Hunger, Marshall and Autry. The Revs out-rebounded the Black Bears 46-23, taking advantage of a stark size advantage.
“I thought we could dominate the glass,” Head Coach Chris Caputo said postgame, adding that he emphasized aggressive rebounding to his players.
After his debut, junior guard Jean Aranguren, who transferred from Hofstra University this offseason, said his team was ready to start competing in regular-season games and was looking forward to the season opener.
“I feel like we’ve been waiting for this moment for a few months,” Aranguren said postgame. “We’ve been playing against each other a lot of times, so we were just excited to have our first home game.”
After a slow first eight minutes of the first half, the Revs used a tip-in from Autry to kickstart an 11-2 run that spanned nearly six minutes to generate a first-half lead. While Maine battled, that swing proved to be crucial down the stretch.
Marshall said his team was able to adjust at halftime by slowing down their tempo and getting into their style of play.
“Just slow down, just take our time,” Marshall said. Get into our offense. Don’t let them rush us.”
In the second half, the Revs outscored the Black Bears 38-22 while shooting 56% from the field. Benjamin finally snapped the Revs out of their 3-point funk with the team’s first from deep at the 18:07 mark. The team finished just two of 20 from 3-point territory throughout the game, with the team’s best shooter, redshirt junior forward Garrett Johnson missing the game due to injury. Caputo said postgame he expected Johnson will be available for the team’s next game.
When Maine tied the game at 35 with 15:23 to play, it was guard Tre Dinkins who would knock down the only other Revs 3-pointer of the night to regain the Revs’ lead and begin a stretch of play where they put the Black Bears away.
After Hunger recorded his third foul and sent Maine’s freshman guard Ace Flagg, twin brother of NBA first overall pick Cooper Flagg, to the free throw line, where he sank both, the Revs embarked on a 10-0 run. Hunger tapped in his own missed layup to put the Revs ahead 42-39. After a turnover from Flagg, Jones received the ball on the wing, faked a three-pointer and drove to the basket, scoring two points with a slick layup.
The scoring continued with Marshall from the free-throw line and a layup from Hunger and Benjamin, respectively, to put the Revs up 50-39. Castro then threw down a highlight reel dunk off an assist from Autry at the 8:14 mark, leading to a run of play that saw the Revs close out the Black Bears.
With a season-opening victory in tow, the Revs now shift their attention to their upcoming schedule, which sees them take on the University of South Florida Bulls on Saturday.
“We want to get the ball going, play defense great, play at our pace and set the tone, at first on defense and offense,” Aranguren said. “That’s what we’re going to get ready, just do what we do every day.”
Caputo said he looks forward to continuing to face high-level mid-major teams like USF.
“I think you want to play an A-10 level game early now,” Caputo said. “We’ve played Temple, we’ve played Georgetown, so we’ve been in a couple of those games already, after three games.”
On Saturday, the Revs will face off against USF at the 2025 Amica Insurance Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off. The event, hosted by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, will take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
