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Game 14 - George Washington (11-2) vs. Fordham (6-7)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: January 3, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center - Washington, DC
How to Watch: ESPN+
Matchup History: George Washington leads all-time series 31-12
Last Meeting: Fordham def. George Washington 85-70 on 1/28/23
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: George Washington -4.5
Over/Under: 149.5
Prediction: George Washington 74, Fordham 71
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Head Coach: Chris Caputo (2nd season, 27-18 record at George Washington)
Record: 11-2 (0-0, T-1st in Atlantic 10)
Last Time Out: Def. Maryland Eastern Shore 69-63 on 12/30/23
Player to Watch: James Bishop IV
George Washington has won five games in a row entering Wednesday night’s conference opener against Fordham.
The Revolutionaries are 11-2 and sit atop the Atlantic 10 standings, with the only losses coming against UIC in the Bahamas and on the road against South Carolina.
Over the past two games, however, GW has struggled against lesser opponents, defeating Alcorn State by four and Maryland Eastern Shore by six entering Wednesday.
Chris Caputo’s team can score in a lot of different ways. The Revs rank 55th in scoring offense in the nation and have a three-headed monster of James Bishop IV, Garrett Johnson, and Darren Buchanan, who have all led the team offensively at different times this year.
The biggest surprise has easily been the play of Johnson, who has won the conference Freshman of the Week Award three times already and has led GW in scoring in five games; the Revs are 5-0 in those games.
It’s hard to fully grasp where a team is at and how they’ll compare before conference play begins, but it certainly looks like Caputo has a team that can seriously compete in his second year at the helm. Whether or not whey can win the extremely competitive A10 remains to be seen.
First up, the A10’s biggest surprise from last season, Fordham.
Head Coach: Keith Urgo (2nd season, 31-15 record at Fordham)
Record: 6-7 (0-0, T-14th in Atlantic 10)
Last Time Out: Def. Columbia 87-78 on 12/30/23
Player to Watch: Abdou Tsimbila
Fordham was the surprise of the Atlantic 10 and one of the biggest surprises in college basketball a season ago.
In 2022-23, the Rams, under first-year Head Coach Keith Urgo, won 25 games, tying the school record with a 25-8 season, including a 12-6 conference record.
Urgo, a Washington, DC native, is working his first job as a head coach at any level and won the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award in 2023.
Fast forward to now; Fordham is off to a 6-7 start and at the bottom of the conference entering A10 play. The Rams have lost four of its last six, including home losses to Central Connecticut and NJIT, two games they were double-digit favorites.
A big reason for the lack of success is turnovers. Fordham ranks 329th in the nation out of 351 programs in turnovers per game, turning it over an average of 14.9 times per game.
In fact, that is also where GW struggles, turning it over 14.4 times per game.
Wednesday’s conference opener in Foggy Bottom may not be the cleanest game in terms of taking care of the basketball, and will likely come down to guard play and which team can maximize its possessions.
For GW, it’s a chance to prove itself as a legitimate contender in the conference.
For Fordham, it’s a chance to right the wrongs of the noncon and start anew in 2024.
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