Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. Read his latest ballot here.
What’s the saying, “When you aim for the king, you better not miss?” George Washington jumped out to an 11-point first half lead against preseason Atlantic 10 favorite VCU Wednesday night, only to see the Rams shoot 64% in the second half (and 7-12 from three-point range) to pull past the Revolutionaries 80-72.
The loss drops keeps the Revolutionaries (16-9, 5-7 Atlantic 10) two games under .500 in a murky A-10 middle class: a game and a half separate fourth place (and the vaunted double-bye) from 10th (and the dreaded first round) with four weekends remaining in the regular season.
Meanwhile, the Rams (20-5, 10-2) reach the 20-win plateau for the 16th time in 19 years and 18th time in 24 seasons (involving seven different head coaches dating back to Mack McCarthy in
2002. And even though they don’t lead the A-10, VCU is in postseason conversations as a potential at-large team (ESPN.COM’s Bracketology has them as one of the First Four Teams Out).
But don’t mention that to this team whose focus is on the floor and not in the distant future.
“I try to get them to not think about that. We want to think about the next play, the next film session, the next game that we’re going to have, the next prep for the game we’re going to have,” Coach Ryan Odom said after the hard-fought victory over GW. “If you get too many steps ahead, all of a sudden you’ll get yourselves out of sorts. And so we have to be focused on what’s in front of us … we can’t control what’s going to happen on Selection Sunday: all these guys are focused on now is the Atlantic 10 Conference and trying to win a championship.”
After playing five of their last eight games away from home, the Rams have the weekend off to rest up for their final six conference games.
“Certainly this bye week comes at a good time for us, you know to be able to get our guys recovered and relaxed,” Odom said. “It’s timely that we have it right now. But we’ve got to use the time, that’s the key. We have to use this time. You’ve got to use this time to get better.”
Rams play four of six at home to end the season. and although they trail George Mason by one game in the A-10, they host the only regular season meeting between the two schools Feb. 22.
Starting Five:
Up Top: Auburn stays No. 1 in the new AP Top 25, followed by Alabama with Florida and Duke tied for third. I have the Crimson Tide and Gators 1-2, with the Tigers and Blue Devils rounding out the top four. Largest variances from the consensus: I had No. 18 Marquette 11th on my ballot, while I did not rank No. 12 Texas Tech. Tough omissions: Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, New Mexico, and Utah State. Small school shout-outs: Drake, Saint Mary’s, and George Mason.
Going Inside: Georgetown (15-9, 6-7 Big East) might not be on the NCAA Tournament track, but the Hoyas are in the mix to avoid playing in Wednesday’s First Round at the Big East Tournament for the first time since 2019. For a program that won four league games over the previous three seasons that counts as progress. Thomas Sorber continues to collect Big East Freshman of the Week honors (he’s got seven now) while Micah Peavey remains a force on both sides of the floor. The Hoyas have the week off after holding Seton Hall without a basket for the final 5:22 of regulation in a 60-46 grinding victory.
“You have to be a chameleon in the Big East,” Coach Ed Cooley said. “You have to be able to play multiple styles of basketball to win. Some days the ball’s not going to go in. But you’ve got to be able to get in the mud, too, right? It’s OK to win ugly.” The Hoyas road to the First Round bye is a little trickier after Villanova’s upset win of No. 9 St. John’s Wednesday, as they now trail the Wildcats by a game and a half for fifth place (and the final bye).
But they currently own the tiebreaker and ‘Nova comes to DC in March for the Hoyas’ home finale. And while G’town does face lowly DePaul in their last game, Xavier (one half game ahead of the Hoyas entering the weekend) has dates with the 10th place Blue Demons, last place Seton Hall, and two with ninth place Butler. But Georgetown has to take care of its own business as well to even have the. right to be scoreboard watching, and that business begins Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse against Butler.
Perimeter Play: Towson (17-9, 12-1 CAA) has won 11 straight to take control of their conference race. Not many thought the Tigers would be atop the league after six straight losses dropped Coach Pat Skerry’s team to 4-8 in December. But they’ve scraped their way (four of their victories in the streak are by six points or fewer while a fifth came in overtime) up the standings thanks to a defense that ranks second in the CAA in turnover margin and points allowed. While they’re limited offensively (12th in scoring and 13th in shooting), Tyler Tejada (17 points per game) and Dylan Williamson (14 while shooting 42% from three) have provided enough firepower to keep the good times going.
They enter the weekend a game ahead of UNC-Wilmington and own the tiebreaker with the Seahawks. The Tigers have been the No. 1 seed in the CAA as recently as 2022, but have yet to reach the Championship Game in the conference tournament since joining the league in 2001 (they last made the NCAA’s in 1991 after winning the now-defunct East Coast Conference Tournament).
Who’s Open: Saturday in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech (11-13, 6-7 ACC) goes for a sweep of Virginia (12-12, 5-8) two weeks after beating the Cavaliers 75-74 in Charlottesville on a day where the Hokies shot over 50% from the floor and three-point range. Jayden Schutt scored a season-high 18 points that afternoon, while Isaac McKneely paced UVa with 19 (they’re 3-1 in ACC play when the sophomore scores 20+ points).
Last Shot: Sunday Maryland (19-6, 9-5 Big Ten) faces Iowa (14-10, 5-8) at 5 p.m. in an early-evening affair. Before winning at Rutgers Wednesday the Hawkeyes have dropped three straight — and while they rank second in the conference in scoring they’re last in scoring defense, defensive field goal percentage, and rebounding margin. Big men Owen Freedman and Payton Sandfort will provide an interesting challenge for the Terrapin twin towers of Derik Queen and Julian Reese. I’ll see you courtside.
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