Week 17: 2.21-27.83
The top ten stayed intact, minus some small jockeying around. Rice is your unanimous top team. Looking more at them, they have an epic offense (one far better than the GW juggernaut of last year). They are also the top rebounding team in the nation. So, they're #2 in total offense (#3 in field goal percentage), #2 in rebounding, #2 in free throw percentage...they are not good at shooting the three, but they do everything well. They're also a veteran team. They lost last week, at Baylor, and stayed the unanimous #1. That's how revered they are this year. They also went to Texas A&M after the Baylor loss, and beat the 12th-ranked Aggies.
GW moved up one more spot, to 16th. So, they are acquitting themselves well since both Davis and Hulett went down. Jack's scoring has gone down, but his rebounds and assists are up.
Code:
Top 25
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Rice (72) 23-2 1800 1 Southwest Conference
2. Brigham Young 23-3 1711 2 Western Athletic Conference
3. UTEP 23-2 1660 4 Western Athletic Conference
4. North Carolina 24-4 1563 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
5. Kansas 23-3 1533 6 Big Eight Conference
6. Maryland 21-4 1438 8 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. Southern California 23-3 1364 5 Pacific-8 Conference
8. Washington 23-4 1284 7 Pacific-8 Conference
9. Princeton 22-4 1255 9 Ivy League
10. Kansas State 18-9 1151 10 Big Eight Conference
11. Missouri 18-8 1061 12 Big Eight Conference
12. Texas A&M 21-5 983 11 Southwest Conference
13. Clemson 18-7 907 14 Atlantic Coast Conference
14. Pennsylvania 17-8 830 13 Ivy League
15. Cornell 18-5 777 16 Ivy League
16. George Washington 22-2 722 17 Independent
17. Indiana 21-6 682 15 Big Ten Conference
18. Nebraska 19-7 559 18 Big Eight Conference
19. Duke 18-9 482 20 Atlantic Coast Conference
20. Baylor 17-8 424 NR Southwest Conference
21. Iowa State 19-7 412 19 Big Eight Conference
22. Colorado State 19-9 276 21 Western Athletic Conference
23. North Carolina State 17-8 217 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
24. La Salle 20-6 124 NR East Coast Conference
25. Citadel 20-7 79 NR Southern Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Kentucky 19-7 36 Southeastern Conference
California 16-9 27 Pacific-8 Conference
Arizona State 17-8 17 Western Athletic Conference
Texas Tech 17-7 15 Southwest Conference
Southern Methodist 15-8 8 Southwest Conference
Western Kentucky 21-6 2 Ohio Valley Conference
Davidson 21-7 1 Southern Conference
2.24.83: vs Marquette (16-11)
The Golden Eagles come to town, still in hunt for a NCAA berth (there is a line ahead of them). GW beat them, 78-62, a year ago. They return all five starters from that, as well as a new starter in SG Courtney Smith. Smith is averaging 12.1 points and 4.1 rebounds a game this year. That's behind only SF Jeffrey Dunagan (15.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg).
The Golden Eagles are decent across the board, very active on the offensive rebounds...they do turn it over a good bit, but other than that, and generating turnovers, they are solid. GW will have to shoot well to have a chance.
Sanday opens the game with a foul. Brilliance. Woods opens the scoring; Smith ties it, but Patterson gets a three-point play. Jack gets on the board via free throws. Marquette takes a 8-7 lead at 15:27, and they begin trading the lead back and forth. Woods gets his second foul and exits for Porter Ali. Jack is shooting poorly again, which is always relative...but he's shooting like garbage. Hector gets a steal and a dunk. With twelve minutes left, GW is up 15-14.
Jack's line, with ten minutes left, is 2-2-3. GW leads 19-17. Jack keeps up his funk, and not in a good eighties way. It's 22-19 with 6:40 left. Jack misses again...he's got only two points, and gets a boot. Ali ties the game at 26-26 with 4:20 left. Woods gives GW the lead back, and Jack hits a three. His line is 5-4-3. GW is beginning to make some moves, taking a 33-26 lead. Marquette has nine turnovers...Jack gets a bucket right before the half, giving GW a 39-31 lead at the break. GW has been better, and Jack can never be held down for long. He's 7-5-3 at the moment. Hector has nine...he has really been quite good since being taking over a starting spot. Smith has nine for Marquette.
Jack hits the first bucket of the second half. Seth Bell hits, making it 41-35. Jack hits two free throws, and I believe that's the first scorer in double figures. Bell scores again, getting it back to six. Chris Walsh drills a three. Smith scores, and it's 45-44...Jack assists Patterson to get it back to three, 47-44, with fourteen minutes left. Hector hits an and-one, making it 50-44.
Jack assists Patterson on a three; Hector has 17 to lead all scorers. Jack hits, giving him 15, then gets a great block of a Smith dunk attempt. Walsh hits his second three of the half, but GW responds. Smith hits a three...it's 57-50 with 10:33 left. Jack now has a double-double, at 15-10-5. He throws down a big dunk, and the crowd goes nuts. Woods hits a bucket, making it 61-51.
Walsh hits his third three of the half, and Marquette is charging again. Sandy responds with a three, and Dunagan hits another. Good back-and-forth between the teams now. The Golden Eagles are one foul out of the bonus. Jack takes a break, but not for long. With five minutes left, he returns, GW up 67-59. Jack gets an and-one, hits the free throw, and makes it 70-59. Huey Corbin (oh, there's an 80s name) hits a three, and it's now 72-64. Chapin hits a basket, getting it back to ten. GW is able to keep things around 8-12...Jack gets a breakaway dunk that ends the threat with a minute to go. It's 82-66, and that's how it ends.
Jack's shooting is going down, but he's also expected to pick up a higher volume of shots. Patterson scored 21 on 8-16 shooting. He is becoming the second option that Hulett should have been...but more consistent. I wonder if, when Hulett and Davis return, they will find their roles reimagined.
Code:
George Washington 82, Marquette 66
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Marquette (16-12, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Seth Bell C 34 2-7 1-2 2 4 2 1 5
Andrew Marrow PF 27 2-5 0-0 0 5 1 4 4
Jeffery Dunagan SF 22 3-5 1-1 0 2 1 5 8
Courtney Smith SG 34 6-15 6-9 0 3 1 1 19
Chris Walsh PG 29 4-6 0-0 2 8 4 2 11
Huey Corbin PG 14 1-3 0-0 0 0 2 2 3
Vicente Rogers SF 14 2-3 0-0 1 2 1 0 4
Jordon Baltazar SF 6 3-4 2-2 0 0 0 1 10
Brad Palladino PF 10 0-0 2-2 0 1 0 1 2
Earnest Alva C 7 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 0 0
Kendall Orlando PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 19 (A.Marrow 3, J.Dunagan 2, C.Smith 7,
C.Walsh 2, V.Rogers 2, J.Baltazar 1, B.Palladino 2)
Blocked Shots: 2 (S.Bell 1, K.Orlando 1)
Steals: 2 (S.Bell 1, V.Rogers 1)
3P FGs: 8-13 (J.Dunagan 1-2, C.Smith 1-2, C.Walsh 3-5,
H.Corbin 1-2, J.Baltazar 2-2)
George Washington (23-2, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Manuel Chapin C 36 1-4 0-0 1 7 3 2 2
Bruce Woods PF 27 5-9 4-4 4 5 0 3 14
Jack Dawkins SF 36 8-20 5-5 4 11 5 1 22
John Sandy SG 36 3-7 2-2 2 3 4 3 9
Hector Patterson PG 36 8-16 4-4 2 4 2 2 21
Michael King SG 9 0-2 2-2 0 0 1 3 2
Porter Ali SF 10 3-3 0-0 1 3 0 3 7
Robert Mulvey PF 7 1-3 1-2 0 2 0 0 3
Chris Davis SG 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Orlando Maley PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 9 (M.Chapin 3, B.Woods 3, J.Dawkins 1,
M.King 2)
Blocked Shots: 3 (M.Chapin 2, J.Dawkins 1)
Steals: 9 (M.Chapin 2, J.Dawkins 3, J.Sandy 3,
H.Patterson 1)
3P FGs: 4-12 (J.Dawkins 1-3, J.Sandy 1-2, H.Patterson
1-6, P.Ali 1-1)
Player of Game: SF Jack Dawkins (GW)
2.25.83: at Georgia Southern (14-12)
The Eagles reached the NCAA a year ago; this year looks to be much more precarious, as they are simply fighting for their postseason lives. They are led by guard Darwin Webster, a four-year starter who is averaging 22.3 points a game, along with 5.4 rebounds. Forward Carl Sullivan puts up 13.3/7.6/2.1, while forward Jerrold Hatchett scores ten points a game in just seventeen minutes off the bench. They shoot horribly, but they get after the boards on offense (8th in the nation). They are middle-of-the-road, but they can beat GW. Without Jack, the Colonials are decidedly not middle-of-the-road. They are a dumpster fire off to the side.
Carl Sullivan hit stwo free throws off a Chapin foul to start. Jack gets two blocks on one possession. GW takes nearly four minutes to score; Chapin did following a Jack miss. Sandy picks up two fouls and has to sit. Jack misses a dunk, which sends Marty King into a rage over no foul being called. Jack responds with a three, making it 8-5. GW has seven fouls in the first seven minutes. Jack hits five in a row to get it to 13-10, but Joshua Rae follows with a three. Ali hits, and it's 17-14 with 9:10 left. GW has nine fouls, GA Southern one. Oy.
Hector finally gets on the board, then commits his second foul. This is atrocious, this amount of fouls. Patterson stays in, and hits a three to make it 22-19. King gets it to within one. Patterson hits another three, and GW takes a 24-22 lead. Jack comes back, and hits a three. He has an 11-3-0 line. He hits another, and the Eagles are cold. GW is trying to get them back on track, throwing the ball away, giving them stelas, traveling, and putting them on the line.
Woods gets an and-one, misses the free throw, but GW gets the board. Nothing comes of it. Chris Davis scores on a free throw, then comes right out. Jack commits his first foul in the final minute. King hits a three...Jack suffers his second foul. Crying out loud...at the half, it's 34-29. Jack has a 13-4-0 line, with two fouls. GW committed sixteen fouls in the first half. SIXTEEN.
That's gotta change.
Jack hits a three on the first possession, and Joshua follows. Chapin fouls Cleveland Grubb. It's 37-34 two minutes in. Darwin Webster gets the Eagles to within one...and Joshua Rae gives them the lead, 39-37. Jack gets fouled, goes one of two...Sandy hits a three to tie things at 41. King hits a three off a Jack pass, and Woods coaxes a foul out of Webster. Jack has a 17-6-2 line, and GW has a 46-41 lead with fourteen minutes left.
Patterson scores, giving him 10. Chris Davis gets fouled and sinks both free throws. Webster scores, and the score is 52-49 with 11:37 left. Jack hits a three, giving them a little breather. Jack then throws down a dunk...he has 22-8-2, and it's 57-49. Jack comes out at the ten-minute mark. Mulvey drills a three, and GW is one of their patented second-half runs. Jack hits one a couple of minutes later...it's 62-54. Jack has 24-10-2.
Rae has 17 for the Eagles, Webster 11. Patterson has 12. Five minutes left, Ali hits for a 66-54 lead. Jack takes a hard foul by Webster, gets up, sinks both...then gets his fourth foul, one hard on Webster. He chooses his hard fouls wisely. Jack then hits in Webster's eye. Rae responds with a three...2:30 left, and it's 70-59. Then he hits a long three...this is a Jack statement in the making here. He comes out in the final minute, up 75-59. King had a big role in this too, scoring twelve big points.
Code:
George Washington 77, Georgia Southern 59
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George Washington (24-2, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Manuel Chapin C 16 1-4 0-0 1 4 0 4 2
Bruce Woods PF 32 1-3 0-1 1 4 1 2 2
Jack Dawkins SF 36 11-16 3-4 1 13 2 4 31
John Sandy SG 26 2-4 0-0 1 3 1 3 5
Hector Patterson PG 36 5-10 0-0 3 3 4 3 12
Michael King SG 17 4-4 2-2 0 1 5 1 12
Porter Ali SF 13 3-7 0-0 0 1 0 2 6
Robert Mulvey C 13 2-2 0-0 0 2 1 1 5
Chris Davis SG 5 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 2
Orlando Maley PF 7 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 1 0
Turnovers: 13 (B.Woods 1, J.Dawkins 5, J.Sandy 1,
H.Patterson 3, M.King 1, R.Mulvey 1, C.Davis 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (B.Woods 2, J.Dawkins 2, J.Sandy 1)
Steals: 3 (J.Dawkins 2, H.Patterson 1)
3P FGs: 12-17 (J.Dawkins 6-7, J.Sandy 1-2, H.Patterson
2-3, M.King 2-2, P.Ali 0-2, R.Mulvey 1-1)
Georgia Southern (14-13, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Joshua Rae C 35 6-13 4-8 7 7 0 3 20
Cleveland Grubb PF 29 2-3 0-1 1 5 0 2 4
Carl Sullivan SF 32 1-7 5-6 2 8 1 1 7
Darwin Webster SG 35 4-13 2-2 5 6 1 2 11
Rudolph Lyons PG 33 3-7 3-4 0 1 2 1 9
Jerrold Hatchett SF 11 0-7 0-0 1 2 0 0 0
Gary Oller SG 6 0-1 1-2 1 1 1 0 1
Jack Clement PF 15 1-5 2-2 3 5 0 3 4
Jorge Funk C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Davie PG 3 0-0 3-4 0 0 0 0 3
Turnovers: 9 (J.Rae 1, C.Grubb 1, C.Sullivan 1,
D.Webster 3, R.Lyons 2, J.Hatchett 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (J.Rae 1)
Steals: 3 (R.Lyons 3)
3P FGs: 5-20 (J.Rae 4-5, C.Sullivan 0-2, D.Webster 1-4,
R.Lyons 0-4, J.Hatchett 0-3, G.Oller 0-1, J.Clement
0-1)
Player of Game: SF Jack Dawkins (GW)
2.27.83: vs South Carolina (14-14)
The Gamecocks own two wins against teams with winning records this year. One of those was against Georgia Southern. They have the ability to score, but the capability of laying an egg on the offensive end. The key seems to be holding them to 65 points. Only two of their wins came when they scored fewer than 65. GW has the ability to go on amazing runs, and break your will by doing so. South Carolina is prone to allowing such runs. Defensively, they are an albatross. Offensively, if they find a rhythm, they can be a headache. But it appears defense, to them, is just the inconvenient time you have to spend before you get the ball back.
They are generally inexperienced; only one starter came back from last year's group. That player, Otto Sharma, is averaging 13.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.6 steals. Two other players, Darrick Martin and Eli Torres, average 14 points a game. The backcourt will have its work cut out for it. But the frontcourt will have a major advantage. Bruce Woods and Manny Chapin could have big games in this one, along with Jack. This is a small team along the backline.
Chapin wins the tip, and Patterson scores to open things up. Chapin gets fouled, and hits both freebies. Martin throws down a dunk to get SC started. Chapin scores again. Jack gets an assist early, but he's laying low to start. Hector has five points in the first four minutes. After five minutes, it's 14-8. Jack goes to the bench after a foul...not sure if he has two. He may. GW holds a 17-14 lead with 13 minutes left.
SC is going to live and die by the three, it appears. Yeah, Jack has to have two, because there have been stoppages, and he hasn't come back. Sandy has gotten more aggressive lately...he throws one day. The Apocalypse Twins are in...as is Chris Davis. Amazed the world hasn't collapsed. With 8:30 left, it's 23-20, GW. Davis gets on the board, and here comes Jack. He has no points and two fouls. Jack immediately goes to the line and gets his first points.
King gets a layup and foul off a Jack assist, and it's 30-26 with 6:11 left. Martin hits a three, and GW calls time. Jack gets a foul out of Sharma, and hits both freebies. Hector picks up his second foul...Martin has ten points. Jack gets two more. All of his points have come from the free throw line. SC takes a lead with three minutes to go, but Ali responds with a layup plus the foul. Jack has a 6-3-3 line...and Davis gets into the assist act. Patterson hits a three...he has 10, and it's 44-39 with 1:17 left.
Chris Davis with a three! He's getting confident! Jack gets the bucket and the foul! GW is up 50-39 with :47 left...in fact, that's how the half ends. Jack has a 9-4-4 line, and GW shot 54%. South Carolina shot 50%, but had seven turnovers, and 16 fouls in the first half. GW has ten...but their prospects for the second half look good.
Jack gets a steal to start the second half, gets fouled while throwing it down...Eli Torres responds with a dunk of his own. Jack gets another steal, which results in a Hector three. Chapin picks up his third foul. Woods scores, Patterson assist. It's 58-43 with 17:42 left. GW has gotten careless the past few minutes, and SC gets it to 60-48.
Jack picks up foul number three on an illegal screen, and Sharma hits a three...Hector responds with a three-point play, then gets a steal, and a feed to Jack, who throws it down with the foul. All of a sudden, it's 68-51. Jack finds Sandy for a hoop. Jack then throws it down. It's amazing how easy SC gives up the drive. Jack drives and finds Hector (18) for the bucket. It's 72-52 with 11:54 left. Sandy then throws one down. It's like there's a slam dunk competition. Hey, that's a good idea....
Jack's line is at 17-6-6 right now. There's a lot of nothing going on...Jack just got a steal and a dunk. See? I write it, it happens. Hector assists on Ali, and Jack and Hector come out with GW up, 80-57. I actually thought these guys would give GW some difficulty, but I guess with a gaping hole defense, that's tough.
This could be Jack's first game under 20 this year. 4:58 left...Jack is at 19-8-6. Eli Torres hits, and it's 80-63. Jack gets a block, but Woods a foul. It's 80-65. Michael King hits a three, and SC has run out of time. Jack goes to the line, and he hits his free throws...he has 21, and promptly comes out. I wonder if Marty King knew. The final is 89-70, and honestly, that game was not anywhere close to that. Michael King has really grown throughout the year...he had 15.
Since starting 0-2, GW has reeled off twenty-five straight wins.
Code:
George Washington 89, South Carolina 70
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South Carolina (14-15, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Carl Larrabee C 22 2-3 2-4 1 2 0 4 6
Charles Mateo PF 15 1-3 1-2 0 1 1 5 3
Darrick Martin SF 31 8-14 4-4 3 4 2 3 23
Otto Sharma SG 28 3-5 0-0 1 3 3 4 9
Eli Torres PG 21 4-10 0-0 0 2 0 4 11
Michael Quinn PF 21 3-6 0-0 2 6 0 2 6
Norbert Mayes PG 23 1-2 2-3 1 2 5 0 4
Ted Jordan C 22 1-5 5-6 0 4 0 2 8
Ahmed Durden PG 8 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 1 0
Kermit Moreland SF 7 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Turnovers: 16 (C.Larrabee 1, C.Mateo 1, D.Martin 6,
O.Sharma 1, E.Torres 3, M.Quinn 1, N.Mayes 1, T.Jordan
1, A.Durden 1)
Blocked Shots: 0
Steals: 4 (O.Sharma 1, N.Mayes 3)
3P FGs: 10-24 (D.Martin 3-7, O.Sharma 3-5, E.Torres
3-9, T.Jordan 1-3)
George Washington (25-2, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Manuel Chapin C 23 1-1 2-2 0 2 0 4 4
Bruce Woods PF 31 3-7 1-1 2 4 1 3 7
Jack Dawkins SF 30 5-11 11-11 4 9 6 3 21
John Sandy SG 25 6-10 0-2 3 7 3 4 12
Hector Patterson PG 35 6-10 4-6 1 1 6 4 18
Michael King SG 18 4-6 5-5 0 3 0 1 15
Porter Ali SF 12 3-6 1-1 1 4 0 2 7
Robert Mulvey C 14 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 0 0
Chris Davis SG 7 1-2 2-2 0 1 1 2 5
Orlando Maley PF 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Turnovers: 12 (B.Woods 2, J.Dawkins 2, J.Sandy 2,
H.Patterson 3, M.King 2, C.Davis 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (M.Chapin 1, B.Woods 1, J.Dawkins 4)
Steals: 9 (B.Woods 1, J.Dawkins 4, J.Sandy 2,
H.Patterson 1, C.Davis 1)
3P FGs: 5-11 (J.Sandy 0-2, H.Patterson 2-2, M.King 2-3,
P.Ali 0-2, C.Davis 1-2)
Player of Game: SF Jack Dawkins (GW)