George Washington Basketball Struggling

Feb 14, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; George Washington Colonials head coach Mike Lonergan questions a call from the sidelines during the first half against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams at Charles E. Smith Center. The Rams won 79-66. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

With a 17-9 record (7-6 in the Atlantic 10 Conference), the George Washington basketball team would seemingly look like they are in cruise control towards  the post season. But after Wednesday nights loss at home against Davidson, the Colonials are going in the wrong direction. This is the fourth straight loss and second home loss in a row.

Junior Joe McDonald led four Colonials in double-digit scoring with his second career double-double in the 65-53 loss. Kevin Larsen and Patricio Garino each scored a team-high 12 points and senior John Kopriva added 10 points.

GW needs quality wins, especially after a disastrous loss earlier to a poorly rated Duquesne team. But only the March 7th game against UMass looms as a potential quality win.

The reasons for the Colonials problems can be tied to these reasons:

• Foul shooting. The team ranks eighth out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 in free throw percentage (.675). During the losing streak they are closer to 60%. That has to improve to win these tight A10 conference games.
• Bad defense. The Colonials are letting other teams score at will late in the game. Once again, you can’t win tight conference games allowing easy points.
• The team is not showing offensive consistency. They get easy points early in the games and then struggle to find any shots later in the contest

Next up for George Washington is a matchup Saturday in Richmond against the Spiders. The Atlantic 10 conference tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, starts march 11.