Game of the Night
Richmond Spiders vs. George Washington Colonials
George Washington (15-4, 4-2 A 10) will play host to Richmond (10-8, 2-4 A 10) on Thursday night in what will be a pivotal matchup between these two teams. On one side of the equation, George Washington is holding onto a solid 4-2 record in conference play and hopes to continue to show that it is a team that has NCAA Tournament potential. On the other side, Richmond enters the contest at 2-4 in conference play but still stands as one of the more underrated teams in the Atlantic 10. The Spiders are in desperate need of a victory or two to get themselves back to .500 in conference play. Put these two together, and you’ve got a great showdown on Thursday night.
George Washington enters this contest as a winner of three of its last four. Most recently, the Colonials took down Rhode Island in comeback fashion last Friday, helping assert this team as one of the best in the Atlantic 10. They’re led by Tyler Cavanaugh with with 17.0 points per game this season. Just behind him are Patricio Garino and Kevin Larsen averaging 12.4 and 11.9 points per contest. The Colonials currently lead the Atlantic 10 in offensive rebound percentage; they’ve been great on the glass this season and could cause Richmond troubles. In addition, George Washington ranks 14th in the nation in free throw shooting percentage at 75.7% as a team.
Richmond comes into this contest having lost its last two games. The Spiders have been on a downward spiral since beginning conference play and just can’t seem to pull out a big win. One area of concern for Richmond lies in recent three point shooting. The Spiders missed all 15 of their attempts from behind the arc in a loss to Davidson on Monday. Richmond is led in points and rebounds by Terry Allen who’s averaging 20.2 and 8.3 per game. It will be very interesting to see how he matches up against the front line of George Washington that has been so effective on the glass this season.
Both teams really need this win, which is why this game should be so entertaining. Kenpom projects an 81-74 victory for George Washington on Thursday night. It also gives the Colonials a 73% chance of winning. Regardless of Richmond’s struggles as of late, it’s hard to doubt that they’ll be ready to try to rebound and get a huge road win in Foggy Bottom. Expect a great one from Washington D.C.
