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| Isaiah Armwood (#32) led GW with 20 points & 9 rebounds |
From our friends at GW Athletics Communications...
GW Men's HoopsMoves to 7-1 With 93-87 Win Over Rutgers
Colonials Edge Scarlet Knights in Shootout to Win Fifth Straight at Home
GW men's basketball improved to 7-1, its best start since 2005-06, with a 93-87 victory over Rutgers during the annual BUFF OUT game at the Charles E. Smith Center on Wednesday night.
GW will now put its fast start on the line this Sunday, Dec. 8 against Maryland in the 19th annual BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center.
The Colonials came away with their fifth straight home victory in a match-up that pitted a pair of graduates from the district's Archbishop Carroll High School - GW Coach Mike Lonergan and Rutgers Coach Eddie Jordan.
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| Kethan Savage (#11) poured in 18 points |
GW used a balanced offensive attack that saw five players score in double figures for the third time this season. The offense was needed as Rutgers (4-5) made 13 three-pointers, shot 51 percent overall, and got a combined 49 points from Myles Mack (26 points) and Jerome Seagears (23). The Colonials countered by shooting 53 percent, including 6-of-12 behind the arc, and going 27-of-37 at the foul line for their third game this season with 90-or-more points.
Senior Isaiah Armwood finished with a team-high 20 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while graduate student Maurice Creek and sophomore Kethan Savage added 18 points apiece. Senior Nemanja Mikic provided a second-half spark for the Colonials, hitting three of his four 3-pointers and scoring 11 of his 14 points after the break. Sophomore Kevin Larsen chipped in 11 points in his sixth double-digit scoring outing of the season.
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| Maurice Creek (#1) added 18 points and 2 steals |
Sophomore Joe McDonald finished with a career-high nine rebounds, nine assists (one shy of his career high), six points and three steals in 32 minutes.
GW took a 38-36 lead into halftime after a back-and-forth first half that featured four lead changes, three ties and 57 percent shooting from Rutgers. The Colonials trailed by as many as eight points early, but Creek and Savage had 11 and nine points, respectively, in the opening half and the hosts used a 20-8 edge in points in the paint to take the lead late in the period.
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| John Kopriva (#34) chipped in with 6 points & 3 rebounds |
Armwood and Larsen continued to work inside to start the second half, combining for 10 straight points in the paint during a 12-4 run that opened a 50-40 lead with 15:12 remaining. The Scarlet Knights managed to pull within a possession of the lead four times over the next 10 minutes, but the Colonials had an answer each time, including a Mikic three, an Armwood dunk and a McDonald tip-in that kept the visitors from pulling even.
GW converted 13-of-16 free throws over the final 2:44 to offset the hot shooting of RU's Mack and Seagears, who combined for eight 3-pointers in the second half, including three in the final 97 seconds.
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| Rutgers head coach Eddie Jordan |
The Colonials finished with a 40-22 scoring advantage in the lane, and scored 16 points off 16 Scarlet Knight turnovers.
Sunday's game against the Terrapins will tip-off at approximately 3:30 p.m., following the conclusion of the event's opening game between George Mason and Oklahoma at 1 p.m. The contest will be televised on MASN.
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| "Buffing out" with free pizza |
Tickets are free for students with a valid GWorld card, and GW Athletics has a ticket/T-shirt combo available for $45 at GWsports.com/BBT.
Click here for last night's box score.
