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 Mike Hall leads the No. 7 Colonials against UMass Wednesday night at Smith Center. |
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No. 7/8 Colonials Host UMass Wednesday at 7:30 pm
Feb. 14, 2006
UMass (10-11, 5-5) at #7/8 George Washington (20-1, 10-0)
Game 22 • Atlantic 10 Conference game
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006 • Time: 7:30 pm (EST)
Location: Smith Center (5,000) • Washington, DC
Radio: WMET 1160, WAGE 1200 AM (Byron Kerr)
TV: none
Series: GW leads, 32-23
The Coaches:
GW COACH: Karl Hobbs (Connecticut `85)
Record at GW: 84-54 (.609) 5th season
Atlantic 10 Record: 42-32 (.568) 5th season
Career Record: 84-54 (.609) 5th season
Hobbs' Record vs. Massachusetts: 2-4
UMASS COACH: Travis Ford (Kentucky `94) The No. 7/8 Colonials (20-1, 10-0 A-10) fresh off their historic 20th victory in 21 games, aim to even their all-time A-10 record if it can defeat UMass in the 56th meeting between the teams. The Colonials also enter tonight's game with a 222-223 record in 30 seasons of Atlantic 10 play. Winners of 12 straight, GW can own the nation's longest winning streak with a victory over UMass.
• GW is coming off its 12th straight victory, a narrow 64-62 win over Saint Joseph's Saturday in Philadelphia. That victory improved GW's record to 20-1 marking its best start in the 92-season history of the program.
• GW and No. 5 Gonzaga currently share the nation's longest winning streak at 12 and if the Colonials can defeat UMass tonight, they will own the longest streak until Saturday when the Zags play again. GW and No. 2 Duke are the only one-loss teams left in Division I.
• GW now has consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons and their first victory at SJU's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse since 1998.
• At 10-0 in league play, GW is off to its best A-10 start in the 30-year history of the league.
A Closer Look at Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Minutemen, under first-year coach Travis Ford, are led by junior C Rashaun Freeman's 13.8 ppg. Freeman also leads the Minutemen in rebounding with 9.1 rpg (2nd in the A-10). Junior F Stephane Lasme leads the A-10 in blocks (4.1) and ranks third in the country in rejections. JC transfer James Life has knocked down 46 threes and has averaged more than 16 points a game over UMass's last six outings. Freshman point guard Chris Lowe is fourth in the A-10 in assists per game (4.4). The Minutemen lead the league in blocked shots but have had trouble hanging on to the ball ranking 14th in the A-10 in turnover margin (-2.81) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.82). UMass is 1-9 on the road this season with a victory at St. John's. UMass has won two of its last four games against ranked teams including GW in last year's meeting at Smith Center. UMass upset the then-No. 21-ranked Colonials, 76-74 in overtime on a Freeman layup with less than a second showing. UMass has won the last three meetings at Smith Center.
• GW jumped one spot to No. 7 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll (released Feb. 13) and remained at No. 8 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll. GW's No. 7 ranking is GW's highest since the week of Jan. 3, 1956 when the Colonials also were ranked 7th.
Next Game: GW travels to Richmond Saturday to face the Spiders at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised on the A-10 TV Network and will be broadcast live in the Washington area on WMET 1160, WAGE 1200 AM as well as via www.GWsports.com.
Record at UMass: 10-11 (.476) 1st season
Atlantic 10 Record: 5-5 (.500) 1st season
Career Record: 138-122 (.531) 9th season
Campbellsville 67-31, Eastern Kentucky 61-80
Ford's Record vs. GW: 0-0
• Massachusetts is coming off a 73-63 loss at Florida State Sunday in Tallahassee. The Minutemen flew directly from Tallahassee to Washington Monday. UMass junior G James Life led the Minutemen with 14 points, and the Minutemen shot 52.1 percent from the floor.
