George's Army Brings 'E'ntertainment to Charles E. Smith Center in South Carolina Rout
12/1/2022
"No matter what happened in the game, I wanted this to look like what this could be."
For head coach Chris Caputo, in just the seventh game of his tenure, Wednesday night at the Smith Center showcased his vision for what GW men's basketball's potential is. Not just on the court, where the Colonials harassed and controlled a Power Five opponent for 40 minutes, but also in the stands.
"The student section was incredible. It gives you a chance to build a great program when you have that type of support," Caputo said. "This is an awesome building to play in to begin with, but then to have it filled up with students that are doing what they're doing, it's incredible."
There was a distinct buzz in the air throughout the day in Foggy Bottom, made possible by the highly-anticipated Miracle on 22nd Street pregame tailgate. The energy carried over inside the Smith Center as a packed George's Army student section spilled over its allotted 1,000 seats into a second side of the arena.
CBS Sports Network's Jon Rothstein compared the environment to Times Square on New Year's Eve and the passion didn't go unnoticed by those donning the Buff & Blue.
"The fans are like a sixth player on the floor for us," said senior guard James Bishop, who racked up another steller stat line of 24 points, eight assists and three rebounds. "They were there from the jump and we love that support."
"We love it," added classmate Ricky Lindo Jr., who was the recipient of a new Fan Club banner in the student section. "We need them every single game. It's an amazing crowd we had, and we just need to keep it up."
Bishop, who admitted he was also a member of the Ricky Lindo Fan Club, got the crowd involved early with a slick pass to Hunter Dean for a slam dunk on the opening possession that was just a harbinger of things to come.
GW never trailed and led by as many as 35, shooting an efficient 51% from the field. The production has become commonplace for the Buff & Blue, who rank 22nd in the country in shooting percentage (50.0%) and 12th in the nation in effective field goal percentage (58.3%), accounting for the extra value of a 3-pointer.
The threes were falling all night, a season-high 12 on 27 attempts. Bishop matched a season-best with five and reigning A-10 Co-Player of the Week Brendan Adams tied a career-high with four of his own en route to an 18-point, five-assist showing.
Everyone got in the act as GW assisted on 21 of its 30 made field goals, including the game-high eight from Bishop.
"We had two really good days of practice and preparation," Bishop said. "We knew we were ready and everyone was juiced up to play well. When you have good preparation days, you're really able to play well."
Perhaps more impressively, though, was the Colonial defense that limited South Carolina to just 20 points and 24% shooting in the first half, and 32% shooting overall.
Lindo drew the defensive assignment on prized recruit GG Jackson, who came in averaging 17.7 points per game and shooting 46% from the floor. With numerous pro scouts in attendance, Lindo showcased his ability to disrupt a game on the defensive end, frustrating Jackson and limiting him to a season-low 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
"We did such a good job of keeping the ball out of (Jackson's) hands," Caputo said. "We had a game plan for when he caught it that we never had to execute because he never got the ball on the block."
To his own right, Lindo added 15 points and six rebounds and was a game-best +26.
Off to its best start since the 2015-16 season, GW will now turn its attention to a road test at an improved Radford squad on Sunday afternoon in Southwest Virginia.
Then come two more opportunities for the Smith Center to come alive before the Holiday Break, a clash with local foe American on December 10 and a battle with Coppin State on December 13. Tickets are still available at GWsports.com/tickets.
