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Game 4 - George Washington (3-0) vs. NJIT (0-4)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: November 18, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center - Washington, DC
How to Watch: ESPN+
Matchup History: This is the first all-time meeting between GW and NJIT
Last Meeting: N/A
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: George Washington -22
Over/Under: 142
Prediction: George Washington 88, NJIT 67
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Head Coach: Chris Caputo (3rd season, 34-33 record at George Washington)
Record: 3-0 (0-0, T-1st in Atlantic 10)
Last Time Out: Def. North Carolina A&T 85-80 on 11/12/24
Player to Watch: Darren Buchanan Jr.
It’s one last ‘tune-up’ game for Chris Caputo’s George Washington Revolutionaries before the team heads to the U.S. Virgin Islands later this week for the Paradise Jam tournament, which they open up on Friday against Kansas State.
To start the year, the Revs are 3-0 with wins over Mercyhurst, Hampton, and NC A&T, winning by an average of 20 points across the three victories.
Entering the year, the biggest question for the team surrounded where the offensive production would come from with James Bishop IV no longer on the roster. Well, so far, it’s been spreading the wealth, as Head Coach Chris Caputo has four different players averaging in double figures, and seven that are averaging 7 points or more per game.
As expected, leading the way for George Washington is sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr.
In his freshman season, Buchanan averaged 15.6 points per game in nearly 31 minutes. This year, he’s off to a similar start offensively, averaging 16.3 PPG through three games, while ramping up his rebounding numbers significantly thus far, hauling in nearly 11 rebounds per game.
To start the year, he’s recorded a double-double in each game while racking up at least 1 steal and assist. It’s safe to say that, this year, GW will only go as far as Buchanan will take them.
Where George Washington needs to improve is its distribution of the basketball.
Through the first three games, the team is averaging 12.7 assists per game compared to 12.3 turnovers per game. That’s good for 234th in the country in assist/turnover ratio. Granted, it’s only been three games, but it’s also been against the lowest competition GW will face all season.
That burden will fall more heavily on Jacoi Hutchinson. The sophomore guard is the only player besides Buchanan that is averaging more than 30 minutes per game and is the team leader in assists with 3.3 per game to go along with 10.3 PPG.
As the team continues to gel and work more together, those numbers should hopefully continue to improve.
If not, and the team relies too heavily on ‘hero ball,’ it could spell trouble for the Revs.
For now, it’s a Monday night matchup against winless NJIT in front of the team. After tonight, all focus will shift toward the Paradise Jam and a huge weekend of three games in three days for Chris Caputo’s squad.
Head Coach: Grant Billmeier (2nd season, 7-25 record at NJIT)
Record: 0-4 (0-0, T-1st in American East)
Last Time Out: Lost @ Morgan State 81-69 on 11/16/24
Player to Watch: Tariq Francis
NJIT is one of 16 winless Division I college basketball teams as of 11/18.
The Highlanders are 0-4 to start the year, losing to Penn by 1, Villanova by 38, Loyola Maryland by 18, and Morgan State by 12.
The program has never been to an NCAA Tournament and has just one winning season since 2016, failing to win more than 7 games each of the past two seasons.
Head Coach Grant Billmeier inherited a program coming off its worst season in 14 years and went 7-21 last year.
To start this season, in a home game against Penn, the Highlanders led by 12 at the half before the game was tied with a minute to go. With one second left, Tariq Francis committed a foul to put Penn at the line, where they sealed a comeback victory.
Since the devastating opening night loss, NJIT has lost by an average of 23 points per game and enters Monday night’s game in D.C. as a 22 point underdog against George Washington.
Although Francis committed the crucial foul in the opening loss to Penn, he has consistently been NJIT’s best player and would be the reason the Highlanders could stay in the game against GW on Monday.
He scored his season-high 20 points in the 58-57 loss to Penn, following up the performance with 12, 17, and 18 points, respectively, in the three games since.
He plays 34 minutes per game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he never came out of Monday’s game in Foggy Bottom, as long as the game is close.
For a desperate team in NJIT that is about to play in its second of four straight road games, if it can keep the game close, just as Mercyhurst was able to do in GW’s opening game, they’ll set themselves up for a chance in the second half, potentially catching the Revs napping before the head to the Virgin Islands for next weekend’s Paradise Jam tournament.
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