It's a Festivus miracle! We tried to blow it but failed--finally. We shouldn't have to play second halves. This probably saved Caputo's job, but we'll undoubtedly face the same problems next year. Lack of second half adjustments again.Thank God Castro made most of his free throws or we would be going home tonight. 

Great defense stop at the end

Hail to the Buff! Hail to the Blue!!!
First off, tip-of-the hat to Utah Valley. Holcombe is a player and their team did a great job of switching things up on defense (as well as showing more from behind the arc than we expected). The crowd was about what could be expected in terms of turnout but was very engaged and enthusiastic.
While much will be said about Autry´s three-point shooting and Slim making his ft´s, Tyrone Marshall Jr played the game of his life tonight, at both ends of the court. Not everything he did will show up in the box score, but he was the difference maker tonight. 
Still, that was another big halftime lead that got pissed away and Utah Valley´s inablity to execute on the final shot is why they are done instead of playing in the NCAA´s.
The Pit is at a higher altitude and a different level of "home court advantage". The tunnel from the visitor´s locker room to the court is painted "Welcome to The Pit, 6,000 feet above sea level and louder than..." (and then you emerge on to the court). 

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (3/18/2026 9:08 pm)

Enormous defensive plays from Castro and Woo to seal it, Trey clutch 3s and exceptional FT shooting under pressure from Rafael Castro

GW survives and advances!

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

Hail to the Buff! Hail to the Blue!!!
First off, tip-of-the hat to Utah Valley. Holcombe is a player and their team did a great job of switching things up on defense (as well as showing more from behind the arc than we expected). The crowd was about what could be expected in terms of turnout but was very engaged and enthusiastic.
While much will be said about Autry´s three-point shooting and Slim making his ft´s, Tyrone Marshall Jr played the game of his life tonight, at both ends of the court. Not everything he did will show up in the box score, but he was the difference maker tonight. 
Still, that was another big halftime lead that got pissed away and Utah Valley´s inablity to execute on the final shot is why they are done instead of playing in the NCAA´s.
The Pit is at a higher altitude and a different level of "home court advantage". The tunnel from the visitor´s locker room to the court is painted "Welcome to The Pit, 6,000 feet above sea level and louder than..." (and then you emerge on to the court). 

I really hope UNM holds on and GW gets to play at the Pit. I went to grad school at UNM. New Mexico has no professional sports teams, so the Pit has the feel of an NBA arena, despite the fact that UNM has never made it to the Sweet 16.

Watching NM blowout Sam Houston. The Pit is packed and should be quite the challenge.  Enjoy the ride Revs!

DC Native wrote:

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

Hail to the Buff! Hail to the Blue!!!
First off, tip-of-the hat to Utah Valley. Holcombe is a player and their team did a great job of switching things up on defense (as well as showing more from behind the arc than we expected). The crowd was about what could be expected in terms of turnout but was very engaged and enthusiastic.
While much will be said about Autry´s three-point shooting and Slim making his ft´s, Tyrone Marshall Jr played the game of his life tonight, at both ends of the court. Not everything he did will show up in the box score, but he was the difference maker tonight. 
Still, that was another big halftime lead that got pissed away and Utah Valley´s inablity to execute on the final shot is why they are done instead of playing in the NCAA´s.
The Pit is at a higher altitude and a different level of "home court advantage". The tunnel from the visitor´s locker room to the court is painted "Welcome to The Pit, 6,000 feet above sea level and louder than..." (and then you emerge on to the court). 

I really hope UNM holds on and GW gets to play at the Pit. I went to grad school at UNM. New Mexico has no professional sports teams, so the Pit has the feel of an NBA arena, despite the fact that UNM has never made it to the Sweet 16.

Took care of that one ourselves in 1993.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1993-03-19-george-washington.html

That 2016 game was SUPPOSED to be on the road but was played at the Smith Center because Florida's gym was unavailable (why Dayton hit the road last night despite being the higher seed). 
Side note: Johnson's pass out of the trap vs Fordham saved the season, the Block just extended it.

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (3/19/2026 7:17 am)

A tale of 2 halves over last 3 games.

first half:          GW 131     Opp.    80  or rough average of GW 44, Opp  27
second half    GW    95     Opp  148    or rough average of GW  32    Opp 49

Thanks everyone for the kind words earlier on the preview!

Good to finally pull a close game out. GW had the clear talent/experience advantage, but facing a team on a long home game win streak is never easy. I think UVU being young played a role in them not finishing off the game late. When Slim left the floor for periods in the second half, the Wolverines had significantly less trouble getting inside and finishing. Credit the Revs though for actually executing somewhat down the stretch. Great plays to find Slim for dunks on a couple of occasions. When UVU inevitably threw a zone at GW, the team didn't combust as badly as they have previously, although the ineptitude with the alley oop passing was still on display. It would be great if the team could punch back a lot earlier once a team cuts into the lead. That four point swing with a missed CJ layup and made layup for UVU on the other end was demoralizing. Of course, it's not a GW game without the other team doing things they don't usually do. Holcombe was great, but had made five threes all year. Of course, three pointer #6 was made yesterday. Also, Weaver had entered averaging 2.4 ppg and then scored a career high 12. I will say that GW did a great job on Leonhardt which may have made a difference.

Building off what LSF posted above, I'd imagine the 3P% drops off a cliff too. The thing is, many of the looks aren't bad, but there needs to be way more passing. I feel like a team's rhythm improves the ball moves around instead of just spotting up. Both shots are open, but I feel like would lead to different results.

While this team played a bit looser yesterday, things like the Autry turnover shows how much the team tightens up in late game situations. Not to mention all the missed layups (thankfully Woo dunked one of those home at the end). Man I wish we had Marshall for more than one year. Have liked his play all season, despite some shortcomings offensively at times. The blocks at the end were fantastic. Of course, the fact that UVU retained possession on a tie up at the end brings a bit more attention to the previous tie up (between Witherspoon and JC I think?). I felt that the previous call in the half was a bit quick. That's an issue I have with certain refs - some of them seem to call the tie up before the play actually ends.

Anyways, next up is a really tough one against New Mexico. Olen is a great coach, as we saw with his UC San Diego teams before. It wouldn't be surprising to see him get a bigger job either this offseason or next. I fear it's way more likely that a second half meltdown happens than a first half heater, but I don't doubt that the team will step up against good competition. That's never been an issue. The threes will need to fall though (UNM is happy with teams taking those shots, but their opponents just haven't made them this season) and taking care of the ball will need to be a lot better. The Lobos aren't bad at forcing turnovers themselves. I don't think it's a bad matchup for Castro again either.