In their last outing, George Washington fell on the road in a hard fought contest to Delaware 68-65. James Bishop and sophomore forward Jamison Battle finished the game tied for a team high 14 points, while sophomore center Chase Paar added 10 points.
Delaware was led by 6'10 senior Dylan Painter who posted a double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard Kevin Anderson added 13 points and senior Ryan Allen finished with 12 points in the victory.
In all of GW's losses, they've lost the assists battle. Opponents are relying on ball movement to create mismatches and breakdowns within the Colonials defense, for them to then exploit. William & Mary thrives off of excellent ball movement to score the ball, they are very efficient offensively. GW will need to be equally as efficient defensively if they are to get another win. Scoring is far from an issue.
Key Match-ups:
Jameer Nelson Jr vs Luke Loewe
James Bishop vs Yuri Covington
Matt Moyer vs Quinn Blair
Chase Paar vs Mehkel Harvey
Jamison Battle vs Connor Kochera
Keep an eye on:
George Washington's DEFENSE: needs to finally show up for a full 40 minutes or they will fall to 1-5,it's that simple. Have they put together stretches where they have been potent defensively, forcing turnovers, controlling the boards and holding teams ineffective? Yes, however, those stretches are few and far in between. When I mean defense, I'm not just talking about on ball only, I'm talking rotating properly, effective help side positioning, strong dig downs and recovery's back to your original man, fighting over screens....and finally getting the rebound. The little things that won't show up in a box score but are pivotal in winning games. GW doesn't thrive in those areas consistent enough and that's why they've lost games they could've and should've won. They face another test tonight.
William & Mary is led by 6'4 senior floor general Luke Loewe who has established himself as one of the most underrated mid-major floor generals in college basketball. Loewe comes into tonight's contest averaging 16 points, 10 assists and 2 steals on 55 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent shooting from deep and 80 percent shooting from the line. He's a capable scorer but is elite at finding his teammates. 6'5 freshman Connor Kochera is a sniper that opens the floor up for the Tribe. Kochera led William & Mary in scoring with 19 points on 85 percent shooting from deep in a loss to Old Dominion. GW will have to keep a close eye on him at all times, he can get hot in a hurry. fellow 6'1 freshman Yuri Covington is a crafty scorer and facilitator off the bounce, 6'7 junior Quinn Blair does the dirty work inside (9 ppg,10 rpg) and 6'9 junior Mehkel Harvey is the teams defensive anchor inside, averaging 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks on the season.
The Tribe are excellent in finding scoring opportunities on off ball screen action, they keep defenses busy. We will see if the Colonials are up to the challenge defensively. This is a great opportunity to right the ship at home tonight.
