Game 16: Men vs. Auburn

The men face Auburn (3-1) this afternoon in the first game of the BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center. GW (2-2) is coming off of an 80-63 loss at #2/1 UCLA on Wednesday night. In that one, the Colonials hung tough in the first half, but the Bruins used an 18-4 run after intermission to put the game out of reach. Freshman Miles Beatty paced GW with 12 points, while Maureece Rice had 11, including the 1,000th of his career.

The Tigers, who were picked to finish fourth out of six teams in the SEC West Division, return five starters from the squad that went 17-15 and lost in the first round of the conference tournament. Auburn is led by a pair of juniors in 6-7 forward Korvotney Barber (15 points, eight rebounds per game this season) and 6-5 guard Rasheem Barrett (14 points, 4.5 rebounds). The Tigers have only dressed seven scholarship players in each of their last two games because of a number of injuries and suspensions. Coach Jeff Lebo is 46-49 in his fourth year at Auburn; he is 161-112 in 10 years as a head coach.

Auburn hasn't played in 13 days since winning at Charleston Southern 89-59 on November 19. In that one, Barrett had 25 points and four assists, and was joined in double figures in scoring by Barber (15 points, seven rebounds), 6-6 sophomore forward Lucas Hargrove (12 points, seven rebounds), 6-4 senior guard Frank Tolbert (11 points), and 6-1 sophomore guard DeWayne Reed (11 points, four assists). The Tigers' lone loss of the season came in their opener at Tulane on November 9.

This is the second-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 1-0. The lone meeting came on December 8, 1979 in the Show-Me Classic in Columbia, MO, which the Colonials won 71-60.

This is a big game for GW as the squad looks to rebound from back-to-back road losses. It should be a close one throughout, but it's been a while since Hobbs and company lost in the BB&T Classic. The pick here is the Colonials in a close one.

Phil Kaminski and Paul Marmaro have the call for WRGW with Vishal Aswani and Sammy Gelfand handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 2.10 p.m. I will join Byron Kerr for the 3WT broadcast. You can listen here starting at 2.20 p.m.

Game notes: This is the first game of a tripleheader...George Mason and East Carolina tip-off following the conclusion of the GW-Auburn game, while Maryland and Virginia Commonwealth face off in the night cap...GW is 14-14 against SEC teams...The Colonials have won four in a row in the BB&T Classic...The last loss came to #17 Gonzaga on December 7, 2003...Hobbs is 6-4 at the Verizon Center...GW is 11-7 in the arena...The Colonials haven't lost three consecutive non-conference games since 2003...GW is 11-10 in its last 21 games away from the Smith Center...The Colonials are 2-2 for the first time since Hobbs' first season in 2001...GW hasn't started 2-3 since 1999, Tom Penders' second-to-last season at the helm of the program.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Verizon Center once we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 2.03 p.m. - Travis King will be the halftime interview on the 3WT broadcast.

Update, 2.10 p.m. - Here are the starting lineups:

Auburn
G - DeWayne Reed (6-1 sophomore from Houston, TX)
G - Quantez Robertson (6-3 junior from Cincinnati, OH)
G - Frank Tolbert (6-4 senior from River Falls, AL)
G - Rasheem Barrett (6-5 junior from Atlanta, GA)
F - Kovotney Barber (6-7 junior from Manchester, GA)

GW
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
G - Xavier Alexander (6-6 freshman from Forest Park, OK)
G - Damian Hollis (6-8 sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
F - Wynton Witherspoon (6-7 junior from Duluth, GA)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)

Update, 2:35 p.m. - A lot of firsts for this game today. First, Jabari Edwards is dressed and is warming up. This is the first game Auburn has played in Washington D.C. and it is also the first time the Colonials have worn their buff jerseys all season. Keep it here for more action from the BB&T Classic.

Update, 2:40 p.m. - And Jabari Edwards is in for the first time as a Colonial.

Update, 2:59 p.m. - After a turnover prone first nine minutes, GW has show life in the last few minutes as Wynton Witherspoon hit back-to-back three point shots and Miles Beatty closed the gap to three with his three-pointer from the left-wing. Auburn has had a couple of nice drives, and GW's defense has given up a lot of open looks for the Tigers.

Update, 3:26 p.m. - After Rob Diggs took over the middle stages of the first-half the Colonials began turning the ball over, as they did in the first stages of the half, and allowed Auburn to use an 8-0 run to close the half giving them a 38-37 lead. GW has been lead by Wynton Witherspoon who has 11, including three 3 PT FG's and Diggs had 10. Frank Tolbert, Auburn's lone senior has come alive with 15 points (7-8). GW should be in the lead as they have the rebounding edge 16-10 and have six offensive boards, but are trailing solely because of the team's 11 turnovers.

Update, 5.11 p.m. - It's the first Colonials loss by five points or less since the Stanley Burrell game at the Smith Center on January 25, 2005. It's the first time GW is 2-3 since 1999, Tom Penders' second-to-last season in Foggy Bottom. It's the first BB&T loss for the Colonials since 2003. Hobbs' squad had numerous opportunities to win this game, but they couldn't cash in any of them.

It's a mystery how a team that had three starters who played all 40 minutes and got only 14 minutes of playing time from its bench could outlast a squad that had eight players notch at least nine minutes of game time. The 21 turnovers certainly didn't help. In the last few possessions, it was painfully obvious how much Travis King is missed.

We'll try to acquire the postgame audio. My apologies for things being slow over the past week, but the majority of our senior staff was in either Los Angeles or New Orleans. Things will get back to normal this week. We'll be back in action on Wednesday when the men host Maryland-Eastern Shore. Thanks for stopping by.