Game 43: Men vs. Dayton

The men's team hosts Dayton (16-5, 4-4) tonight at the Smith Center. GW (5-13, 1-7) is coming off of an 80-58 home loss to LaSalle on Wednesday night. In that one, two Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Damian Hollis (14 points, five rebounds) and Rob Diggs (13 points, five rebounds). However, GW allowed the Explorers to shoot 29-49 (59.2%) from the field and 10-22 (45.5%) from three-point land. It was the Colonials' third-straight home loss, the first such streak since the 2002-2003 season. In addition, GW's seven-game losing streak is the longest for the program since it dropped 10-straight during the 2001-2002 campaign.

The Flyers, who were picked to finish sixth out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, return four starters from the squad that went 19-12 and lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Dayton is led by a duo of talented players in preseason First Team All-A-10 selection 6-2 senior guard Brian Roberts (18.6 points, 3.8 assists per game this season), who was selected as one of 30 midseason candidates for the 2008 Wooden Award, and preseason Rookie Team pick 6-8 freshman forward Chris Wright (10.4 points, six rebounds). Wright had won the conference Rookie of the Week award four times and had recorded three double-doubles before an MRI on January 10 revealed that the freshman had a fractured bone in his right ankle; Dayton is 3-4 since then. At the time of his injury, Wright led A-10 freshmen in scoring, rebounding, free throw and field goal percentages, and blocks. Wright is expected to be out one to three more weeks. Coach Brian Gregory is 91-54 in his fifth season at Dayton.

Dayton is coming off of a 69-64 home win over Charlotte on Wednesday night. In that one, Roberts was held scoreless for the first 35 minutes, but scored all nine of his points after the 49ers had built an eight-point lead with 4.58 remaining. Three Flyers reached double figures in scoring: 6-6 junior forward Charles Little (16 points), 6-7 senior forward Jimmy Binnie (15 points, seven rebounds, three assists), and 6-4 senior guard Andres Sandoval (10 points, four rebounds, four steals). The 49ers were held to just 10-27 (37%) shooting in the second half. Dayton started the season 14-1, which included wins at #11/14 Louisville and at home over #6/6 Pittsburgh. However, the Flyers have lost four of their last six games. Dayton was ranked in both polls for four weeks, reaching as high as #14 in the Associated Press Poll on January 14. The Flyers received votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.

This is the 23rd-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 13-9. The last meeting came on January 31, 2007 in Dayton, OH, which the Flyers won 84-69. In that one, two Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Maureece Rice (19 points, five assists) and Diggs (14 points, seven rebounds). The game was tied with 4.07 remaining, but Dayton closed the game on a 19-4 run, and coach Karl Hobbs was ejected after receiving two technical fouls. Roberts led the Flyers with 23 points, while Sandoval had 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Little had 10 points and four rebounds. GW won the last meeting at the Smith Center 81-67 on February 8, 2006. The Colonials have won four of the last five games in the series and are 8-2 against Dayton at the Smith Center.

While Dayton has struggled without Wright and GW might play some inspired basketball after Wednesday's embarrassing loss, the pick here is for the Flyers to earn a rare victory at the Smith Center.

Julian Gompertz and Phil Kaminski have the call for WRGW with Alex Tainsh and Scott Trocchia handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 6.40 p.m. Our own Paul Marmaro will join Byron Kerr for the 3WT broadcast. You can listen here starting at 6.50 p.m. Jason Knapp and John Griffin have the call for CSTV. You can watch live starting at seven p.m.

Game notes: Diggs is the reigning A-10 Player of the Week...GW is 32-4 in its last 36 home games...It has been 30 days since the Colonials' last victory...Before GW's loss to LaSalle on Wednesday, it had been 1,498 days since the Colonials last dropped three-straight home games...Before all three of its most recent games at the Smith Center, GW had lost just three of its last 39 home games dating back to January 2005...The Colonials haven't lost four-straight at home since late in the 2001-2002 season...The fourth-consecutive loss at the Smith Center during that stretch was to Dayton by a score of 89-59 on February 21, 2002...The Colonials haven't lost four home games in a season since going 7-4 at the Smith Center during the 2002-2003 campaign...GW is just 2-4 when scoring at least 70 points...The Colonials were 16-1 when scoring at least 70 points last season...Coach Karl Hobbs has used 10 different starting lineups through 18 games...GW used just five different starting lineups in 32 games last season...This season, the backcourt accounts for only 35% of GW's points...Last season, the backcourt accounted for 54% of the Colonials' scoring...Hobbs is 4-6 against Dayton in his career...Gregory is 2-4 against GW...Rice needs two points to pass Vaughn Jones for 28th place in program history...Wynton Witherspoon needs one point for 400 for his career...Rice needs one three to tie Nimbo Hammons for seventh place in program history...Rice needs two threes to tie Dirkk Surles for sixth place in program history...Rice is averaging 6.8 points per game in four career meetings with Dayton...The Colonials are 1-4 on Saturdays...Only Tuesday has hosted more GW losses (five)...The Colonials are 1-8 in televised games...GW is 5-3 when holding opponents under 70 points, but 0-10 when opponents score 70 points or more...Dayton is 4-17 in its last 21 road A-10 games, dating back to February 2005...The Flyers are 1-3 in road conference games this season...Roberts averaged 19.4 points per game before Wright's injury, and is averaging 17.1 points per game since...Roberts is averaging 15.5 points per game in four career meetings against GW...Roberts is fifth in the A-10 in points per game, second in free throw percentage, fifth in assists per game, fifth in field goal percentage, fifth in three-point baskets per game, and seventh in three-point field goal percentage...Roberts is the only A-10 player among the league leaders in points per game, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, three-point field goals made, assists, assists-to-turnover ratio, and minutes per game...Former St. Bonaventure coach Anthony Solomon is an assistant on Gregory's staff.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Smith Center once we get closer to tip-off. I will be reporting live all night, so please check back later.

Update, 5.58 p.m. - Wesley Witherspoon is in the house, seated with his father under the basket on the 22nd Street end of the court. Other than women's coach Joe McKeown, who was here as his team wrapped up practice, the younger Witherspoon may be the most popular person in the Smith Center; everyone has something to say to him as they pass by, whether it be a player, fan, or GW official.

Update, 6.16 p.m. - Wesley Witherspoon just entertained the few students here by taking some threes in a yellow tri-cornered foam Colonials hat. He had a big smile on his face as he ran off the court. Elsewhere, Rice just entered the building for the first time tonight and ran down the steps toward the locker room about two minutes ago. Finally, expect a large Dayton turnout tonight. On my walk over here a couple of hours ago, I passed at least a couple dozen Flyers fans.

Update, 6.50 p.m. - Here are the starting lineups:

Dayton
G - Brian Roberts (6-2 senior from Toledo, OH)
G - Marcus Johnson (6-3 sophomore from Cleveland, OH)
G - Andres Sandoval (6-4 senior from Milford, MA)
F - Jimmy Binnie (6-7 senior from Des Moines, IA)
C - Kurt Huelsman (6-10 sophomore from St. Henry, OH)

GW
G - Johnny Lee (5-8 sophomore from Nashville, TN)
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
F - Damian Hollis (6-8 sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)
C - Joseph Katuka (6-10 freshman from Zaria, Nigeria)

Lee is starting for the second time in his career; the other came here against Longwood on December 23. It's the 11th different starting lineup for the Colonials this season.

Update, 7.07 p.m. - Lee covering Roberts on the first couple of possessions. Interesting decision by Hobbs. There are a ton of Dayton fans here. On the student side, the lower level is completely packed, while the top part is about one-third of the way full. You have to give some credit to the students who did show up: you'd never know this team was 5-13 by listening to them.

Update, 7.10 p.m. - We have a Miles Beatty sighting. The freshman checks into the game at the 17-minute mark after not playing in any of the team's previous three games. Beatty had three points in 11 minutes in the 92-67 loss at Duquesne on January 26. Interesting that he is the first substitution after not playing in so long.

Update, 7.15 p.m. - Calling it now: don't be surprised if Diggs is the A-10 Player of the Year next season. He looks like the only GW player into the game through the first five plus minutes. Dayton is copying LaSalle's strategy of double-teaming the junior each time he touches the ball in the paint. However, it doesn't seem to be working, as Diggs has eight of GW's 10 points.

Update, 7.21 p.m. - GW leads 12-11 at the second media timeout at 11.45 in the first half. Hobbs really tightened the defense in the last few minutes; the trap gave up a pair of open Roberts threes in the first few possessions, but it has looked much better since then.

Update, 7.25 p.m. - Witherspoon is covering Roberts now. It makes sense for GW to throw different looks at the prolific Dayton scorer so that he can't settle in against any one defender for a long period of time.

Update, 7.29 p.m. - With a couple of early misses by Rice, he is now 2-16 from the field in the team's last three home games.

Update, 7.31 p.m. - A pair of emphatic Diggs slams brings this crowd to life. Diggs has 12 points through the game's first 12 minutes. GW leads by seven at the media timeout. You really have to be impressed by the energy the Colonials are displaying on both ends of the court. The biggest concern for Hobbs right now has to be Dayton's inside game: Huelsman has had a couple of point-blank shots, and the Flyers already have seven offensive rebounds.

Update, 7.37 p.m. - The scrolling ads on the front of the scorers' table are now displaying an advertisement for Semi-Pro, the new Will Ferrell movie which comes out on February 29. Glad to see some national advertising at GW. A three by Lee gives the Colonials their largest lead at 10 points. And then Rice throws an ally-oop off the backboard to Diggs. The last time these two teams played here, Danilo (J.R.) Pinnock threw himself an ally-oop, so it's only fitting. Play of the year for these Colonials. Watch out for that one on SportsCenter tonight.

Update, 7.45 p.m. - At the final media timeout of the first half, GW is doing a great job of sharing the ball with eight assists on 10 field goals. Back-to-back Colonials turnovers have cut the lead to six as the Dayton crowd comes to life. Important for GW to finish the half up strong.

Update, 7.52 p.m. - Very physical game on both ends of the court in the first half. At intermission, GW leads 30-25. Right now it feels as though the Colonials should be ahead by more, as they played one of their best halves of the season, but only have a five-point lead to show for it. Diggs has 16 to lead GW, while Roberts has nine to pace the Flyers.

The new inductees to the GW Athletics Hall of Fame are now being honored at half court. They are Aquil Abdullah (rowing), Lisa Cermignano (women's basketball), Dave Haggerty (tennis), Mike Jarvis (men's basketball), Colleen McCrae (women's basketball), Devin McCalla (gymnastics), Linda S. Miller (rowing), Chad Senior (swimming), and Marcelo Valencia (men's soccer). Congratulations to each honoree.

Jarvis got the biggest ovation, though Senior's rivaled it when they announced he will soon be deployed to Afghanistan as a captain in the Air Force. Kudos to GW for putting on a fitting tribute to this year's class.

Update, 8.03 p.m. - As we get ready to start the second half, GW will have to do a better job on the defensive boards, as the Flyers grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the first half (in fact, 11 of their 20 total rebounds in the first 20 minutes were on the offensive end, which is impressive). In addition, Diggs and Witherspoon are going to need more help on the offensive end, as Lee (three points) and Hollis (two points) were the only other Colonials to score in the first half.

Update, 8.08 p.m. - Hollis picks up his fourth foul just over two minutes into the second half. Not good news for the Colonials. We have yet to see Cheyenne Moore tonight. With Rice's miss, he is now 0-4 from the field tonight and 2-18 in the team's last three home games.

Update, 8.12 p.m. - Xavier Alexander has missed two point-blank shots. Remember them if GW ends up losing a close one. Alexander is 1-4 from the free throw line tonight, dropping him to 21-46 (45.7%) on the season. He doesn't have bad form at the charity stripe, so his struggles are truly a mystery.

Update, 8.17 p.m. - GW is playing tremendous defense, but they are continuing to give up too many second-chance opportunities; Dayton leads 12-3 in that category at the moment. Questionable intentional foul call on Diggs; he was clearly trying to foul Little, but he got a piece of the ball on the attempt. Little connects on both free-bees and the Flyers keep the ball looking for the lead. Roberts hits a three off the inbounds, which gives Dayton the lead on the five-point possession. It'll be interesting to see how GW responds out of this timeout; they've wilted at times like this in other games this season.

Update, 8.24 p.m. - Little picks up his third foul when he catches a piece of Witherspoon's arm on a baseline jumper. That's a big foul for Dayton, as the reserve with eight points and 10 rebounds checks out of the game. Witherspoon misses both free throws, then Roberts hits two. The Colonials are now down by four.

Update, 8.27 p.m. - Dayton has no answer for Diggs as Huelsman picks up his fourth foul with 13 minutes still to play. Rice is still scoreless. It's been 68 minutes of game time since he last registered a point for the Colonials. Rice has been held scoreless twice this season: against LaSalle on Wednesday (he played 30 minutes) and at Binghamton on December 13 (in 14 minutes).

Update, 8.36 p.m. - A Diggs free throw gives him 24 points, which ties his career high; the previous mark was set here on February 21, 2007 against Richmond.

Update, 8.42 p.m. - Dayton leads on the boards 31-24 with just under eight minutes to play. GW needs to do a better job of boxing out, as Lee has been left alone battling Huelsman and Binnie for boards down low on a couple of occasions.

Update, 8.45 p.m. - Huelsman fouls out of the game with 6.22 to play. It's a big loss for Dayton, as he is the big body on this Flyers team. Diggs now going to the line for a one-and-one in search of a new career high. The junior from Brandywine, MD knocks down both, and the Colonials lead by four with 6.20 to play. The crowd and the team can smell the upset.

Update, 8.49 p.m. - GW catches a break, as the officials rule Wilmore's desperation three hit the rim. Rice hasn't scored in the last 75 minutes of play now, and he doesn't even seem to be looking for his shot.

Update, 8.52 p.m. - Lee hits one of two free throws and Dominic Green checks into the game. You have to think Green will be in just for this possession with the media timeout seconds away.

Update, 8.54 p.m. - Final media timeout of the second half, and the Colonials have a 51-48 lead with Roberts about to head to the line for a one-and-one. It is worth noting that Dayton is a team that is currently projected to get into the NCAA Tournament in every projection that's out there. GW came into this one ranked at number 254 in the RPI, which is the worst in the A-10. This could be a crippling loss for the Flyers' at-large hopes.

Update, 8.56 p.m. - Roberts hits both and it is a one-point GW lead. Interesting to see Lee running the show in the clutch with Rice on the bench.

Update, 8.57 p.m. - Diggs slams it home on one possession and draws Little's fourth foul on the next. The junior star hits one of two free throws, and it is a four-point GW lead with 2.21 left.

Update, 9.02 p.m. - GW leads by two with 1.02 left after a traveling call on Wilmore. The Colonials got two looks at the basket after an offensive board by Witherspoon, but now Dayton has the ball looking to tie or take the lead.

Update, 9.03 p.m. - Big floater in the lane by Roberts ties the game with 35 seconds to play. GW takes the ball across the stripe and takes a timeout with 29.1 seconds left so Hobbs can draw up the final play; the shot clock is off, so look for the Colonials to take it down to six seconds or so before attacking the hoop. This is similar to the game in Dayton almost three years ago when Carl Elliott hit the walk-off half-court shot to win it for GW. Will we have another memorable finish here tonight? Rice is back in for the Colonials.

Update, 9.07 p.m. - In a season that has not brought much to cheer about on the men's side, Rice found a wide-open Witherspoon for the game-winning three with 1.9 seconds left. Roberts' desperation three-quarter court shot was caught by Diggs on the other end, and the Colonials are back in the hunt for qualifying for the A-10 Tournament. Witherspoon ran right over to his brother as the buzzer sounded and gave him a chest bump, and now the siblings are walking off the court arm-in-arm. A nice moment here at the Smith Center.

We'll be back later with postgame audio. What a win for this team.

Update, 10.20 p.m. - Here is the postgame audio:

Gregory

Diggs, Witherspoon, and Hobbs


What a game. Interesting to note in the above audio that Gregory thought it was Alexander who hit the game-winning shot. Also, be sure to listen to Diggs' thoughts on the incredible off-the-backboard ally-oop toward the end of the clip.

It's a big win for GW in terms of reaching the A-10 Tournament, as Fordham, who currently occupies the number 12 spot in the standings, also has only two wins in conference play. Fortunately for GW, the Rams host Rhode Island, travel to Massachusetts, and return home to face Charlotte this week.

Amazing to note that other than Diggs (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Witherspoon (19 points, seven rebounds), only three other Colonials figured in the scoring: Hollis (four points), Lee (four points), and Alexander (one point). You also have to give Rice some credit for not forcing a shot on the final possession after being held scoreless for the second-straight game.

The men hit the road this upcoming week in search of their first win away from the Smith Center. We'll be in St. Louis on Wednesday when the Colonials visit the Billikens. However, we're not done with GW basketball for the week: we'll be back at the Smith Center tomorrow when the women host Richmond. Be sure to check back then for the game and all the fanfare surrounding coach Joe McKeown's 500th career victory. As always, it's been a pleasure. Thanks for stopping by.

Update, 11.59 p.m. - The Rice to Diggs ally-oop was the selection for the top play on ESPN's SportsCenter. Be sure to check it out if you haven't seen it.