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| John Kopriva was honored on Senior Day |
From our friends at GW Athletics...
GW Men's Hoops Blasts UMass on Senior Day, 87-65
Watanabe Erupts for Seven of Colonials' Season-High 14 Threes
GW men's basketball made a season-high 14 three-pointers, including a career-best seven threes and 21 points from freshman Yuta Watanabe, en route to a 87-65 drubbing of Massachusetts at the Charles E. Smith Center on Saturday, the final day of the Atlantic 10 regular season.
With the victory, GW (20-11, 10-8 A-10) won for the third time in its last four games and reached the 20-win plateau for the 13th time in program history.
The Colonials will be the No. 6 seed in next week's A-10 Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will play on Thursday, March 12 at 9 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's No. 11 vs. No. 14 seed game. The quarterfinal contest will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network and NBC Sports Live Extra.
Tickets for the A-10 Championship are available by contacting the GW ticket office at 202-99-GWTIX, tickets@gwu.edu, @GWTix or by visiting GWsports.com/MBBPostseason.
GW's 14 triples marked its most in a game since also hitting 14 against Temple on Jan. 7, 2004. On Saturday, the Colonials made those 14 threes on just 18 attempts, led by Watanabe's 7-for-10 performance behind the arc. Watanabe's seven threes were one shy of the school single-game record and were the most for a GW player since Nemanja Mikic's seven against UNC Wilmington on Nov. 29, 2010. It marked the third time in the last three games that GW has made at least 10 threes.
Watanabe was one of five players to score in double figures, the fourth time GW has accomplished that feat this season. Junior Kethan Savage and freshman Paul Jorgensen scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench, while John Kopriva tallied 12 on his Senior Day and junior Joe McDonald added 10 along with eight assists against no turnovers.
GW started slow and trailed 14-9 at the second media timeout, but quickly caught fire and put the game out of reach by halftime. Kopriva hit two threes and scored eight points during a 16-4 run that put the Colonials ahead 25-18.
UMass (17-14, 10-8 A-10) responded with back-to-back baskets to make it a one-possession game before Watanabe and Jorgensen took over. The duo combined for GW's next 18 points and 21 of its final 25 of the half to build a 50-28 cushion at the break. The Colonials made 16 of their final 21 shots, including 4-of-4 behind the arc from Watanabe, and outscored the Minutemen, 41-14, over the final 11:26 of the period.
Watanabe hit his fifth three around free throws from Kopriva and Savage as GW took its largest lead, 57-29, just 95 seconds into the second half. UMass never got any closer than 20 the rest of the way and Watanabe capped his career effort with his sixth and seventh triples inside the final three minutes to lead GW to its 12th win at the Smith Center this season.
GW set season marks with 60 percent shooting (30-50) and 77.8 percent from deep (14-18), while its 19 assists, eight turnovers and 33 bench points were its second-best totals of the season.
Kopriva's 31st consecutive start was his 124th career appearance for GW, giving him solo possession of second on the program's career games played list, one behind Mikic's 125. Junior Patricio Garino had one steal to move into a tie for fifth all-time at GW with Danilo Pinnock with 164 career steals.
Click here for today's box score.
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| Kethan Savage (#11) gives GW a 50-28 halftime lead |
The Colonials will be the No. 6 seed in next week's A-10 Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will play on Thursday, March 12 at 9 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's No. 11 vs. No. 14 seed game. The quarterfinal contest will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network and NBC Sports Live Extra.
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| Joe McDonald (#22) led all players with 8 assists |
Tickets for the A-10 Championship are available by contacting the GW ticket office at 202-99-GWTIX, tickets@gwu.edu, @GWTix or by visiting GWsports.com/MBBPostseason.
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| Kevin Larsen slams it home; GW leads 23-16 |
GW's 14 triples marked its most in a game since also hitting 14 against Temple on Jan. 7, 2004. On Saturday, the Colonials made those 14 threes on just 18 attempts, led by Watanabe's 7-for-10 performance behind the arc. Watanabe's seven threes were one shy of the school single-game record and were the most for a GW player since Nemanja Mikic's seven against UNC Wilmington on Nov. 29, 2010. It marked the third time in the last three games that GW has made at least 10 threes.
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| John Kopriva (#34) scored 12 points with 2 treys |
Watanabe was one of five players to score in double figures, the fourth time GW has accomplished that feat this season. Junior Kethan Savage and freshman Paul Jorgensen scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench, while John Kopriva tallied 12 on his Senior Day and junior Joe McDonald added 10 along with eight assists against no turnovers.
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| T-shirt toss: Women's Gymnastics lends a hand |
GW started slow and trailed 14-9 at the second media timeout, but quickly caught fire and put the game out of reach by halftime. Kopriva hit two threes and scored eight points during a 16-4 run that put the Colonials ahead 25-18.
UMass (17-14, 10-8 A-10) responded with back-to-back baskets to make it a one-possession game before Watanabe and Jorgensen took over. The duo combined for GW's next 18 points and 21 of its final 25 of the half to build a 50-28 cushion at the break. The Colonials made 16 of their final 21 shots, including 4-of-4 behind the arc from Watanabe, and outscored the Minutemen, 41-14, over the final 11:26 of the period.
Watanabe hit his fifth three around free throws from Kopriva and Savage as GW took its largest lead, 57-29, just 95 seconds into the second half. UMass never got any closer than 20 the rest of the way and Watanabe capped his career effort with his sixth and seventh triples inside the final three minutes to lead GW to its 12th win at the Smith Center this season.
GW set season marks with 60 percent shooting (30-50) and 77.8 percent from deep (14-18), while its 19 assists, eight turnovers and 33 bench points were its second-best totals of the season.
Kopriva's 31st consecutive start was his 124th career appearance for GW, giving him solo possession of second on the program's career games played list, one behind Mikic's 125. Junior Patricio Garino had one steal to move into a tie for fifth all-time at GW with Danilo Pinnock with 164 career steals.
Click here for today's box score.
