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GW to Face Vanderbilt Thursday in 2007 NCAA Tournament First Round at Sacramento
March 11, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Atlantic 10 champion George Washington men's basketball team (23-8) was given an 11th seed and will open the 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday, March 15 against the 6th-seed Vanderbilt Commodores (20-11) at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, CA, in the East Region. The 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship first-round games begin on Thursday and Friday, March 15-16. Game times will be announced on Monday.
It marks GW's 10th NCAA Tournament appearance third straight year in the `Big Dance,' a feat never before accomplished in 93 seasons of GW basketball. The Colonials have a 4-9 record in NCAA Tournament games and are 3-6 in first-round games.
The opening round of the tournament commences on Thursday with four games. The Sacramento sub-regional includes games between No. 3 seed Washington State and #14 seed Oral Roberts, as well as No. 2 seed UCLA vs. No. 15 Weber St. and No. 7 Indiana vs. 10th-seeded Gonzaga. The winner of the GW-Vanderbilt game will meet the winner of the Washington State-Oral Roberts game in the second round on Saturday in Sacramento.
GW has faced Vanderbilt only once before, a 76-74 loss on Dec. 1, 1990 in Palo Alto, CA, under former coach Mike Jarvis in just his fourth game as GW coach. The Colonials have never faced Washington State or Oral Roberts.
Vanderbilt (20-11) will be making its first appearance at the NCAA Tournament since 2004 and the ninth in school history.
The Commodores earned an at-large bid and enter the 2007 NCAA Tournament having lost its last two games, both to Arkansas. Vandy is led by Derrick Byars who averages 16.8 points per game and Ross Neltner's 5.8 rebounds per game.
In the 2005 NCAA Tournament, 12th-seeded GW lost to 5th-seeded Georgia Tech in the first round at Nashville. In last year's NCAA Tournament, the 8th-seeded Colonials defeated 9th-seeded UNC-Wilmington in overtime before falling to the overall No. 1 seed, Duke, in Greensboro, NC.
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George Washington enters the NCAA Tournament on an eight-game winning streak and is led by the backcourt of junior guard Maureece Rice (16.2 points per game) and senior guard Carl Elliott (13.1 ppg) who led the Atlantic 10 in both assists (4.9) and steals (2.6) this season.
EAST BRACKET
Sacramento, CA
First Round
March 15, 2007
6 Vanderbilt (20-11)
11 George Washington (23-8)
3 Washington State (25-7)
14 Oral Roberts (23-10)
