This would be close if UMES could make free throws and shoot more than 29% from the field.

GW gets the W, but with few style points.  Def an ugly win, particularly the end.

I'd imagine Caputo not thrilled with that one, let an 18 point lead get trimmed to 5.

That's the GW that could finish last in the A10, The Hofstra game in contrast, a L, looked like a much better GW team.

Anyway, its a victory, Kansas is losing to Southern Utah, Alabama to Jacksonville St..... what makes college basketball great, almost anyone can beat almost anyone on any given Friday night

UC-San Diego next.  

Post game press conference

The team got the win, which was definitely the minimum requirement!

They didn't cover the spread, which could be understandable if UMES shot a ridiculous percentage from the field, but that wasn't the case.

The main test from this game was taking care of the ball, especially down the stretch and unfortunately the team gets an F- there. Now I don't think this really means anything for the UC San Diego game because the MEAC teams are a different breed when it comes to pressuring the ball, but this game might be an indication as to how we will play against VCU. I already chalked that one up as a loss, but could envision 25 turnovers against the Rams. I don't think that's an exaggeration. Rebounding might have been raised to a C- because we did a better job late (and finished with more boards than them) but the team still needs to work on boxing out at times, especially off a missed free throw. UMES attacked the boards with more energy, but I fear our short bench may cause our guys to not be able to match that intensity moving forward.

Was disappointed in CC for not calling timeout during the last four minutes when things were falling apart. We have three timeouts to use in the second half. Not all of them have to be used, but I think at least one was warranted there. One mistake, fine let them push through it. The second time it happens should lead to an immediate timeout and CC should be livid that it happened again. I thought he was a bit too cool and collected late in the game. Was the game in doubt? No, but that should never have been a two possession game. UMES is not a team that should ever be able to hit 60 points, and if the team was a lot better, maybe even 50. We are talking about a bottom 20 team offensively in all of D1. We have three guys right along the baseline which led to easy traps for the Hawks. I imagine that will be a major emphasis at next practice. I thought otherwise the defense was good in the halfcourt.

If we turned the ball over 18 times and we were playing largely first year players at guard, I would get it. The fact that Adams, Bishop, and Clark were unable to handle the pressure is absolutely unacceptable. We are talking about 4-5 year players who have more than enough experience to handle pressure.

Credit UMES for playing disruptive defense, but we just seemed like we weren't well enough prepared coming out of the gate. The Hawks were really successful in forcing us to slow down getting into our offense in the halfcourt, but it also felt like the guys were playing with low energy early on. I don't mind us using more of the shot clock if we are passing the ball around, but especially early on I didn't like how nonchalant we were in getting into the offense and waiting until 5 seconds to start getting a move on. The team unsurprisingly looked at its best when we were in transition. We finished with just 10 assists for the game.

I don't think CC wishes to play probably this slowly long term, but the depth on this team is just really bad and UMES exposed that tonight. Brendan, James, and Ricky have all been nicked up in each game and I knock on wood every time they come back in the game because we cannot afford to lose even one of those guys for multiple games. We need to count on the starting 5 really heavily for all of our offensive production, so if Ricky or Hunter pick up two early fouls, the team will be in trouble as was shown tonight. I like Max as a glue guy, but he tends to disappear for stretches of the game. Qwanzi has been a non-factor offensively the past couple games, and while Amir pulled down a nice rebound when he took a shot it was very ugly (although I am glad he was at least willing to do so). EJ provides energy and moves the ball but isn't a guy who prefers to shoot the ball. Noel was definitely one of the biggest positives tonight. He gave his best minutes of the season tonight. Hunter seemed to be less calm on the floor than he usually is which was surprising. He does move the ball well and rebounded a lot better today at least.

If JB decides to move on after this season, I will miss us having him as a go-to guy when we need a bucket but I think it's in CC's best interest to replace the majority of the roster with his guys next year whether guys on this roster have more eligibility after this season or not. The drop off in talent between the starting 5 and the bench is glaring. If two guys off the bench get a couple buckets each, that would be a resounding success with this roster.

Next up is UC San Diego. At the very least, the team should be energized to play well after they embarrassed us in California last year. As mentioned above, I did like our closeouts on defense in the halfcourt when UMES took a three, and hopefully that carries over to the UCSD game. We still obviously had lapses here and there, but we looked a lot better recovering overall. Hopefully we clean up on the turnovers because UCSD is actually significantly worse on defense than UMES and we shouldn't have trouble hitting 75 if not 80 on Tuesday. I know they beat Cal, but even with our current roster I think our offensive talent is better than Cal's is.

If there are good losses, then this was not a good win. 
A win nonetheless, so we'll certainly take it and hopefully learn from it..
But a very experienced team let a much lower-level team--bottom 20 offensively in D1,as DMV pointed out-- have nearly a shot at winning after we build a significant lead.
 Thought maybe we'd have something to prove after Hofstra and would have a relatively easy win at home, not much closer to a nail-biter.
 

Yep. Didn't like some guys passing the ball to Bishop who was doubled team and in the corner. What? Looked like shades of the Fairfield game many years ago. Ugh!

A win is a win but it was ugly, as many people have mentioned. Did anyone else notice the UMES coach kneeling on both knees for much of the game? https://twitter.com/n1a2v3y4/status/1593763497677946881?s=20&t=rdmnpanVpXld9Vm0h1cf4Q

BM wrote:

I’m not going to name the opponents so as to avoid pouring salt on old wounds, but previous coaches who have been eventually successful at GW have blown games like this in their first year.

Every coach certainly does. Just need to tighten up and practice a little time out management to avoid a last minute collapse

Yeah, got scary at the end, especially when Hunter was becoming a human turnover. It was a learning situation for all involved.

Anyone see recruits in the stands?

One lesson that should be reinforced stems from recent years before CC came onboard.
For some reason, we tend to pass into the trap at times (as noted above). But also hold the ball until the trap comes or dribble into the trap. 
    Going into a trap or inviting a doubleteam doesn't work unless you're really tall and named Kevin Larsen. 
And he knew when to get rid of the ball.