Morning Roundup: Goodbye, Abe Edition
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D.C. Police Seek Suspect in Series of Bank Robberies
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Wizards Owner Abe Pollin Dies at 85
Owing in large part to a soft schedule, George Washington had earned a reputation as overrated despite a 26-2 record. With just 11 minutes remaining in their first-round NCAA Tournament game against UNC-Wilmington last night, the Colonials appeared posed to prove their critics right. They trailed by 18 points, and had allowed the Seahawks to make 14 of their last 16 shots. The game, which had been tied at halftime, seemed to be slipping away.
Then, suddenly, it was if a switch had been flipped. Carl Elliott buried a pair of three-pointers, and GW's signature pressure defense began to dictate the tempo, forcing UNC-Wilmington into turnovers and rushed shots. The dust lifted less than four minutes later, and when it did, the Colonials had scored 19 straight points to take the lead.
The rest of the game was tournament basketball at its best, the jewel in an overall excellent day one. The teams traded buckets for several minutes, with neither side able to eke out a lead of more than a few points. T.J. Carter hit a gutsy three-pointer to put the Seahawks up two with under a minute to play. Elliott took an ill-advised three on GW's next possession, but Carter bailed him out with an even more ill-advised foul. Elliott tied the game by confidently draining the first two free throws, but missed the third. Carter missed a jumper for the Seahawks, GW couldn't get another shot off before the buzzer, and the game headed to overtime.
AP Photo taken by Chuck Burton.
UNC-Wilmington scored the first six points of the extra period, and GW trailed by four with less than two minutes to play. The Seahawks wouldn't score again, however, and the Colonials took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Danilo Pinnock and a tough, athletic bank shot from Omar Williams. GW got the defensive stops it needed down the stretch, and free throws from Elliott sealed an 88-85 overtime win.
GW moves on to Saturday's second round, where they'll face top-ranked Duke at 1 p.m. The Blue Devils were less than impressive in their first-round victory over Southern University, but GW will have to shore up several areas of their play if they want to win. First and foremost, they can't afford to fall behind, counting on the big run that has become their trademark to get back into it. Duke is too talented a team to allow one of those. The Colonials' pressure defense is certainly key to their success, and Duke's freshman point guard, Greg Paulus, has shown this season that he is excitable and turnover prone. But full-court presses occasionally result in fast breaks when broken, and given Duke sharpshooter J.J. Redick's fondness for spotting up on the wing in those situations, Blue Devil breaks are just as likely to end up in three points as in two. Indeed, GW will have to improve their overall defensive effort; the Seahawks shot better than 59 percent from the field, including 11-for-22 from three-point range.
On the bright side, Pops Mensah-Bonsu did appear to be at least adequately recovered from the knee surgery that kept him out of the Colonials last four games. He scored six quick points at the beginning of the game, and finished with ten points and three rebounds in 27 minutes. His play will be particularly important Saturday, as one way to beat Duke is to get their All-American center, Shelden Williams, in foul trouble. Williams is an exceptional shotblocker, but his defensive footwork isn't great and he might have trouble with the quicker Mensah-Bonsu. Somewhat surprisingly, Williams has been outplayed by several big men this year, and if Mensah-Bonsu can play him to a draw or at least keep him occupied, it will greatly increase the Colonials' chances of winning.
The tournament continues today on CBS, starting at noon. Two local teams are playing in Dayton, Ohio: Georgetown and Northern Iowa tip off at approximately 2:30 p.m., while George Mason squares off against Michigan St. at 7 p.m.
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An 8 seed now seems pretty appropriate, doesn't it? Though I would have expected a 2-loss team to control the game a little better.
Oh wait, there are 2-loss teams and then there are 2-loss teams.
Prediction: Duke by 15 though it will be close at the half.
i wouldn't say the colonials performance last night proves they are an 8 seed. with the way UNC-W was playing last night for the first 30 minutes of the game they could have beaten many tournament teams, even duke. they we're hitting all of their shots, executing perfectly with passes and cuts. the way GW climbed back into the game and came back proves they are better then an 8. you cant say the same for syracuse(#5), oklahoma (#6), nevada (#5)...
GO G-DUB!
i graduated from uncw ;(
Dominating,
That reasoning about the 8 seed is ridiculous. In that matter we could say that Tennessee clearly shouldn't be a 2 seed because they almost lost to Winthrop. It's basketball, games are close and a win is a win.
Tenn shouldn't be a 2 seed. Not at all.
I just expected more from GW. UNCW hit so many shots because GW was playing pretty lackluster defense. And there was no change in defensive strategy on the part of the coach. It took a cold spell from UNCW to allow GW to get their confidence back.
But, they did fight back mightily. A very even game as an 8 vs 9 should be.
dominating
By your logic the whole NCAA tourney doesn't even need to be played once you set the seeding. I see a lot of close games being between 2/15 matchups and throughout. Are Boston College, Syracuse, Nevada, Marquette, Oklahoma, Ohio State all overrated as well since all their games are competitive.
The reason the NCAA is so popular is because the majority of the games are wildly competitive with the favored team not always winning.
GWU absolutely changed up after the half- in the first half there was almost no full-court pressure that GWU typically feeds off of. In the second half after falling behind GWU turned up the pressure D leading to some turnovers but UNCW did not suffer any coldspell in shooting. They shot the lights out in the second half -lots of long-range threes. For the game UNCW shot a fraction under 60% from the field.
namllih,
By your logic you aren't too smart. The only logical extension of my reasoning (which you have wrong, by the way), is that you have to play the game to know that the seeding was right or wrong. I think GW's seeding is dead on. Last night's game is evidence in support of it. When Duke wins by 15-20, it will be further proof.
Seeds are just estimates of performance and competitiveness. They aren't always accurate but often times they are. I think BC will prove to be worth their seeding... Nevada did not. GW was dead on, so far.
Let's just keep watching and see what happens.
Why, people, why? Can't we all just get along and root for G-Dub? They're so much more likable than G'Town or Mason.