George Washington (5-5) vs Miami (8-0) -
Saturday , December 16 at 12 p.m. ET
Charles E. Smith Center , Washington, DC
How to view/listen:
TV: CBSSN / Radio: 1500 AM
Injuries:
George Washington: None
Miami: Bruce Brown Jr (Out; Hand)
GW host their first top 10 team since 2015, when they beat sixth ranked Virginia in front of a sold out Smith Center.
Colonials have won 34 of their past 36 non conference games at the Smith Center.
Miami have seven double digit wins so far this season including a 86-81 win over then 11th ranked Minnesota.
George Washington -
67.3 Points per game
70.3 Points against
44.5 field goal %
Miami -
79.3 points per game
57.1 points against
50.3 field goals %
Keep an eye on:
GW guard play: will have to be locked in on both ends all game. Miami guards are talented, experience and the Hurricanes are deep at the position. Jair Bolden (14.5 points) and Freshman guard Terry Nolan Jr (7.7 points) will have to execute and play smart to neutralize the Hurricanes rotation of guards with sophomore sniper Dejan Vasiljevic ( 11.8 points, 47% FG, 42% 3FG, 83% FT) , senior guard Ja'Quan Newton ( 10.4 points, 47% FG), and then freshman standouts Lonnie Walker IV and former All Met out of Gonzaga, Chris Lykes average 9.9 and and 7.1 points a game respectively. That's a lot of fire power from the perimeter and that's not including third leading scorer Bruce Brown (11.7 points) who is ruled out with a hand injury. Expect to see versatile senior Yuta Watanabe and freshman guard Justin Mazzulla get their shot at Miami's deep guard core. If GW can control the hurricanes perimeter attack, they will more than likely get another win over a top ten team.
Advantage inside: for the Colonials. While Miami have players with size like leading scorer Dewan Huell who is 6'11, and seven foot sophomore Rodney Miller, outside of 6'7 wing Anthony Lawrence, they are more paint oriented, which will be an ideal situation for the versatile GW front court of 6'9 Yuta Watanabe, 6'8 Patrick Steeves, 6'8 Armando Toro and explosive forward Bo Zeigler. The Swiss Army knife attack from Watanabe and Steeves can keep the big's out on the perimeter where they can break them down off the bounce and either score or make plays for others. And if they're not hitting shots, Toro and Zeigler will have room to clean things up. Watanabe is averaging a team leading 15.1 points, team leading 6.9 rebounds and an also team leading, 2.3 blocks a game for the Colonials while Toro is working on a beat triple double, averaging 9.8 points and 6.4 rebounds a game. Steeves adds 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds to the equation. If those three can control the boards and knock down shots consistently, they have a shot to dominate the game by committee from the front court. Also, having a depth in the front court is big, the Hurricanes shoot 57 percent from the free throw line this season, may come in to play late in the game. Stay tuned!!!