Colonials Set for Road Clash Tonight at Xavier

Feb. 23, 2005

George Washington (17-5, 9-3) at Xavier (13-10, 7-5)
Game 23 Â• Atlantic 10 Conference game
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005 Â• Time: 7:35 pm (EST)
Location: Cintas Center (10,250) Â• Cincinnati, OH
Radio: WMET 1160 AM, WAGE 1200 AM, SIRIUS (Larry Michael)
TV: A-10 TV Network (Scott Graham/Mark Adams)
Series: XU leads, 18-8 (GW is 0-4 vs. XU at Cintas Center)

Tonight's Game: GW comes into tonight's game looking for its first victory in the five-year-old Cintas Center. The teams met Jan. 25 in Washington where Xavier came away with a 66-65 victory on a 25-foot three-pointer by Stanley Burrell with three-tenths-of-a-second on the clock. It marked the second time in the last six meetings that Xavier had defeated GW on a shot with less than half a second remaining. (David West's tip-in with one-tenth of a second in March, 2003 required extensive review by officials before being ruled good in the Musketeers' 71-70 win). Tonight's game is the 27th meeting between the teams in a series dominated by the Musketeers, 18-8. Xavier has won the last three meetings overall and all four games at the Cintas Center where they have a 63-10 (.863) overall record. GW's last victory in Cincinnati was nine years ago on Feb. 26, 1996 at Cincinnati Gardens (81-77). Xavier is led by Justin Doellman's 11.6 ppg and 5.9 rpg. Doellman suffered a broken nose in the Jan. 25 GW game and wears a protective plastic mask similar to the one worn by GW's Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Xavier is coming off a 59-55 road loss to Dayton last Saturday at UD Arena. GW is coming off an 80-57 home victory over Duquesne also last Saturday to run its winning streak to five straight. GW is 6-3 on the road this season while Xavier is 10-4 at home. GW's 17-5 start is its best since the Colonials began the 1997-98 season with a 19-3 record under former coach Mike Jarvis.

GW Head Coach Karl Hobbs: Hobbs, 43, is in his fourth season at the helm of the Colonials program. Considered by many as one of the hot, up-and-coming head coaches in the country, the NABC recognized Hobbs' efforts by naming him the 2004 District 4 Coach of the Year. GW is his first head coaching position. Prior to coming to GW, Hobbs spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Connecticut which included the 1998-99 national championship season. He is credited with recruiting the likes of Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton and Emeka Okafor among others. He was hired by GW in June, 2001. Hobbs has recruited a total of 13 new players in his brief tenure at GW and enjoyed his most successful season as a head coach last year with an 18-12 record and a postseason N.I.T. appearance. Hobbs orchestrated the two biggest wins of his head coaching career with this season's victories over then-#9 Michigan St. and then-#12 Maryland. Hobbs has a 1-8 record against Xavier and is 0-1 against first-year coach Sean Miller. A win tonight would be Hobbs' 60th and put him above .500 in career conference games (31-30).

Leading the League: GW enters tonight's Xavier game leading the A-10 Conference in nine team statistical categories. As a team, GW leads the league in winning percentage (.773), scoring (80.0 ppg), scoring margin (+11.7), FG% (.482), rebounding offense (37.7 orpg), defensive rebounds (24.14), rebounding margin (+4.8), assists (16.6 apg) and steals (10.3 spg). Individually, Pops Mensah-Bonsu's .582 FG% would lead the A-10 as well but his 4.82 FGs made per game is just under the 5.0 minimum.

The GW-Xavier Rivalry: The GW-Xavier series has been a hotly-contested rivalry that has featured three overtime games--including a double-overtime affair, one A-10 Tournament final and an A-10 record for personal fouls called in a league game. GW split the regular-season series in 1998-99 that included a thrilling 77-74 victory at Smith Center after Shawnta Rogers hit a three at the buzzer to clinch the West Division title. Xavier defeated GW, 77-63, in the 1998 A-10 Tournament final denying the Colonials their first A-10 Championship. The Colonials then ousted the Musketeers in the 2001 A-10 Tournament quarterfinal before Xavier returned the favor each of the last two years in the A-10 Tournament at UD Arena. The most bizarre ending in the series occurred at Xavier in 2003 when, after time had expired, officials needed a full five minutes to review a TV replay of a David West tip-in in order to determine the final outcome. (Replays showed that West had, in fact, tipped in a put-back with one-tenth of a second showing.) Earlier this season, another chapter was added when Stanley Burrell swished an off-balance 25-foot prayer with three-tenths of a second showing to defeat GW at Smith Center, 66-65, on Jan. 25.

Next Game: GW remains in Ohio to complete a difficult two-game road trip Saturday in a noon game at Dayton. The UD game will be televised on the A-10 TV Network and will air live in the Washington area on Comcast SportsNet and on WMET 1160 AM, WAGE 1200 AM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio as well as via www.GWsports.com.