Picked to finish in the middle or the bottom half of the A-10, George Washington currently resides in 2nd place, with a 5-1 record and a win over pre-season favorite VCU in its back pocket. As of today, coach Mike Lonergan and his Colonials appear headed back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.
The Colonials are 17-3, 5-1 overall. Their only 3 losses are road losses at Kansas State and LaSalle, who they routed last night to avenge that loss. They also have aloss to Marquette on aneutral court in a game they were never seriously in. That one is a head-scratcher on a few levels. The Colonials best win is a neutral court win over Creighton where GW neutralized the potent Blue Jays attack and held them to 53 points. The Colonials RPI is 28th.
GW is ranked 35th overall in KenPom. Their offensive rank is 62nd and 32nd defensively. On offense they have an eefective fg% of 52.1%. They turn it over at the national average and lost G Kethan Savage until probably late February, so this could be an issue. They are a good offensive rebounding team. The Colonials offensive rebounding % is 36.6%, 40th best. They get to the line at a decent clip but shoot only 66.9% at the line. That's 271st in the nation.
On defense, the Colonials do most things pretty well. Their defensive fg% is 46.4%, 66th. Their turnover % is 20.9%, 51st best. They typically do a good job not fouling as well. The Colonials have a 14.3% block rate, 31st and a steal % of 11.8%, 22nd best in the nation. They are average on the boards on defense. The Colonials are a little stronger on defense than offense.
Like I noted earlier, they lost SOPH G Kethan Savage who was their 2nd leading scorer but they haven't missed a beat without him yet. Maurice Creek, a senior transfer from Indiana leads the team in scoring with 14.4ppg. SOPH F, Kevin Larson scores 11.7ppg and 6.4 rpg. SR G, Isaiah Armwood scores 11.2ppg and 8.2 rpg.
The Colonials are favored in all their remaining games except 3. They play at Dayton on Saturday who are basically playing for their NCAA lives and can't afford another loss. They also travel to VCU, Richmond and SLU. Losing all three of those wouldn't be a surprise and taking one a bonus.
The Colonials appear poised to end their tournament drought. Doubtful they do much damage but a return trip to the NCAAs is a positive step for the program who has struggled in recent years. The A-10 got reshuffled but remains quite strong.
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