George Washington (5-5) vs Harvard (6-4) When: Saturday , December 21st at Noon.
Where: Charles E.Smith Center in Washington D.C.
TV: ESPN+ / Radio: TuneIn
George Washington - 67.0 - points per game 66.9 - points against 41.2 - Field goal % Harvard - 73.3- points per game 63.8 - points against 45.1 - field goal %
Keep an eye on: Point Guard Battle: between GW’s Armel Potter and Harvard’s Bryce Aiken. Aiken
may not be putting up the same numbers he did last season which is partially due to Noah Kirkwoods emergence, (more on him later), but he’s still a lethal. 6’0 senior floor general is posting a team high 18.2 points and 1.5 steals per game. While his field goal percentage is not where it should be (41%), he’s deadly efficient from 3-point range (38.2%) and the charity stripe (86.5%). His quickness, speed and fearlessness is what makes him special so GW must keep an eye on him at all times. They can’t afford to lose him running plays, resulting in wide open scoring opportunities. Aiken can get hot quickly. If he does, he is capable of winning the game himself.
Potter (pictured above) thrives off play-making and getting to the basket and drawing fouls, which he’s thrived at big time during this season. Another important note is he doesn’t turn the ball over, which is pivotal as Harvard brings a very good team defense to the Smith Center. Potter is averaging 14.6 points, 4.4 assist and 3.2 rebounds while only turning it over 2.6 times a game. While he isn’t the most efficient shooter from deep (26.7%), he more than makes up for that being a reliable finisher from the field (45.9%) and the free throw line where he knocks down 82.2 percent. The most underrated part of Potters game is how well he controls pace. It’s hard for teams to truly control momentum with him in the game which benefits GW obviously. It will be a nice chess match between these two productive floor generals.
Noah Kirkwood: is the glue for Harvard and arguable it’s too all around player. 6’7 sophomore can get it done in all aspects. Kirkwood is averaging 11.2 points, 3.4 assist, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals a game on 47.3 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from three point territory. Add in his versatility defensively where he is capable of defending the 1-4 and you have a player that disrupt opposing teams in many ways.
Arnaldo Toro: showed he was on track to get back to himself with a 12 point,17 rebound, 3 assist and 2 block performance in a win over Delaware after missing a few games with an injury. Now that he’s had a week or to rest I expect to see a 20 and 20 type impact from Toro
this afternoon, at the very least, owning the boards against a Harvard team which brings six players averaging three or more rebounds a game, led by 6’9 senior Chris Lewis who grabs 6.4 rebounds a game.
