The Colonials found themselves staying close midway through the first half, trailing 19-17, thanks in late part to the hot shooting of guard Max Edwards who scored 12 of George Washington’s 17 points by himself. Unfortunately for the Colonials, things were about to take a DRASTIC turn. Due to a combination of turnovers and defensive miscues, Duquesne would go on a 28-0 run to take a 47-17 lead after a Day Day Grant jumper with 1:36 left in the first half. Ricky Lindo Jr stopped the bleeding with a three pointer with 1:18 left, although, the damage was done and GW despite their fight, wouldn’t recover, going into the half down 50-20.
The second half was a continuation of the unbelievable first half shooting from the Dukes as they shot 16-30 from the field, 4-10 from deep and 11-15 from the charity stripe to wipe out any possible threat of a comeback from the Colonials as GW fell 93-67.
George Washington was led by Max Edwards who scored a team high 15 points and 4 rebounds while James Bishop added 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Duquesne senior guard Dae Dae Grant scored a game high 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Sophomore guard Quincy McGriff posted 17 points (6-9 FG/ 5-8 3FG) off the bench and senior forward Joe Reece went to work inside with 13 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Takeaways:
Duquesne First Half Shooting:
was UNBELIEVABLE. Hands down the best shooting performance I’ve seen this season, possibly at all of the levels which includes the NBA. The Dukes moved the ball well (13 assists in the first half) and found open shooters all over the floor. The constant rotations from George Washington trying to keep up with the Dukes extra passing created mismatches which led to defensive breakdowns and eventually, a barrage of efficient shooting. Duquesne shot a blistering 61.3 percent from the field, 60 percent from 3-point range and 100 percent from the line, although a small sample size. Seven of the eight players that got minutes for the Dukes in the first half, shot 50 percent or better from the field and six of those players shot 50 percent or better from deep. It was an in game tutorial for high level offensive efficiency and as a result, the game was over at the half.
George Washington’s Turnovers:
was also a key component in the 28-0 run that decided the game in the first half. As lethal as Duquesne was at shooting the ball on their own, George Washington contributed to it, posting 13 first half turnovers, which, resulted in 19 points for the Dukes. During the Dukes 28-0 run in the first half that decided the game, the Colonials turned it over seven times in that span and the Dukes scored off five of those turnovers. It was as if everything that could go wrong did and at the end of the Dukes run, George Washington was in too deep a hole to climb out of. Lastly, obviously, it’s never a good thing when your three primary ball handlers combine for TEN of the teams thirteen first half turnovers, yet, that’s what George Washington had to overcome from James Bishop (4 T.O.’s), Brendan Adams (3 T.O.’s) and Max Edwards (3 T.O.’s).
George Washington will look to rebound when they host Richmond this upcoming Wednesday at 7pm.
