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Game 17 - George Washington (13-3) vs. Duquesne (7-9)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: January 15, 2025
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 35-16
Last Meeting: Duquesne def. George Washington 76-65 on 3/9/24
Prediction: George Washington 82, Duquesne 69
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Head Coach: Chris Caputo (3rd season, 44-36 record at George Washington)
Record: 13-3 (2-1, 3rd in Atlantic 10)
Last Time Out: Won @ Rhode Island 75-67 on 1/8/25
Player to Watch: Gerald Drumgoole
The last time I wrote about GW, I had legitimate concern that the team was headed down the same path as last year; a great non-conference performance that didn’t carry over into conference play.
The Dayton Flyers were coming to town just four days after the Revs lost its first conference game of the season, a 66-61 defeat to lowly Richmond, losing leading scorer Darren Buchanan in the process.
Not only did George Washington outperform expectations as a 9.5 point underdog at home against Dayton in-front of a 50/50 crowd, the Revs demolished the Flyers 82-62, pulling away in the final minutes emphatically.
Then, four days later, Chris Caputo’s team staved off any chance at a let down game, taking out Rhode Island on the road 75-67 to move to 2-1 in A10 play.
Since Buchanan went down in the loss to Richmond, Freshman Christian Jones has stepped up in a starting role, leading the Revs with 23 points in the win over Dayton and dishing out 6 assists in the win @ Rhode Island.
Besides Jones, Gerald Drumgoole has been very good the last couple of games, along with big man Rafael Castro, who had 16 points in the win over Rhode Island, and Trey Autry, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds against Rhody standing at 6’4”.
Eventually, Caputo will get his star man Buchanan back. Until then, the team is more than capable of pressing on without him and, if they can keep this up, can position itself to be in contention for a regular season conference championship.
Head Coach: Dru Joyce III (1st season, 7-9 record at Duquesne)
Record: 7-9 (2-1, 6th in Atlantic 10)
Last Time Out: Won vs. Saint Joseph’s 85-81 on 1/8/25
Player to Watch: Jahsean Corbett
The Duquesne Dukes, under the direction of first-year Head Coach Dru Joyce III, are off to a 2-1 start in the A10, thanks to wins over Rhode Island and Saint Joseph’s.
In fact, Duquesne has won five of its last six games entering Wednesday night’s tilt in D.C, after what was a horrific 0-6 start to the season, which included home losses to Lipscomb and Milwaukee.
The new head coach, Joyce, was a college point guard at Akron and spent ten years playing professionally overseas before coming back to the U.S. to start his coaching career as an assistant at Cleveland State.
For the last three years, he’s been the associate head coach at Duquesne, and took over the head coaching job after Keith Dambrot retired at the end of last season.
And what a season it was for Duquesne; the Dukes went 25-12 last year and 10-8 in conference play, putting together a magical run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament to win it and advance to its first NCAA Tournament since 1977.
It’s a tall task for Joyce to follow up a magical year, and to follow-up back-to-back 20 win seasons by Dambrot before his retirement.
However, after the slow start, he’s got his team back on track and off to a tremendous start in conference play. If the Dukes can knock off GW on the road on Wednesday, Joyce will have announced himself and his team as a real contender in a conference that seemingly shifts week-to-week.
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