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Game 25 - George Washington (14-10) vs. Richmond (17-6)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: February 17, 2024
Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center - Washington, DC
How to Watch: USA
Matchup History: George Washington leads all-time series 54-43
Last Meeting: Richmond def. George Washington 82-74 on 1/24/24
Prediction: George Washington 79, Richmond 88
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Head Coach: Chris Caputo (2nd season, 30-26 record at George Washington)
Record: 14-10 (3-8, 13th in Atlantic 10)
Last Time Out: Lost @ George Mason 90-67 on 2/13/24
Player to Watch: James Bishop IV
Inexplicably, George Washington has lost seven games in a row.
On January 20, the Revs hit the road to take on UMass. At the time, GW was 14-3 and 3-1 in the Atlantic 10, sitting comfortably in 3rd place.
They lost 81-67 that night, sparking a string of consecutive losses that has now mounted to seven, including five by double digits.
Before the losing streak, GW hadn’t even lost back-to-back games all season. Now, they are dealing with injuries to star players Darren Buchanan and Garrett Johnson while trying to come back from a devastating 23 point loss to George Mason on Tuesday in a game the Revs trailed by as many as 39.
“They played like they’d been shot out of a cannon,” GW Head Coach Chris Caputo said after the loss.
Saturday, George Washington turns its attention to Richmond, a 17-7 team that the Revs have already played this season, resulting in an eight point win for the Spiders.
At this point, where GW needs to tighten up is on defense. The Revs are currently giving up over 77 points per game, ranking 311th in the nation in scoring defense out of 351 Division I teams.
At the moment, it doesn’t matter what GW does offensively. If they don’t get stops, they can’t win games.
Richmond is a team that has struggled to score, ranking 247th in points per game in the country.
I expect another close game between two relatively evenly matched teams at opposite ends of the A10 standings.
Head Coach: Chris Mooney (19th season, 342-265 record at Richmond)
Record: 17-7 (9-2, 3rd in Atlantic 10)
Last Time Out: Lost vs. UMass 69-59 on 2/14/24
Player to Watch: Jordan King
Just two years removed from an A10 Tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament win, Richmond is back as one of the best teams in the conference.
Last year, Head Coach Chris Mooney had to reload and rebuild, going 15-18 overall and 7-11 in the conference along the way.
This year, his Spiders are off to a 17-7 start and are in 3rd place in the conference with seven games to play.
However, the team has now lost two of its last three and enters Saturday’s game in GW coming off its first home loss of the season, a 69-59 defeat to UMass just 11 days after an 11 point loss to VCU on the road.
Before this stretch, Richmond had won 11 games in a row, including a huge win over #16 Dayton. The Spiders have been led by senior guard Jordan King all season, who has scored in double figures in all but one game this year and has scored 20+ 10 times and 30+ three times.
One of those 30 point performances was in the first meeting with GW, when King dropped 32 points including 4 three’s to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
For Richmond, and for all teams in the Atlantic 10 besides Dayton, it’ll likely all come down to the league’s conference tournament once again.
If the Spiders can get back into form down the stretch and finish in the top 3 in the league and make some noise in the A10 tournament, there’s a chance they can be a bid stealer come Selection Sunday, which is only a month away.
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