Men's Basketball Opens Season With 89-44 Rout vs. Stonehill

Monday, November 6

Washington, DC

8 p.m.

George Washington University

1-0,0-0Atlantic 10

Stonehill

0-1,0-0NEC

Stonehill

George Washington

11/6/2023 10:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

WASHINGTON - In its biggest rout since the 2015-16 season, GW men's basketball thrilled a raucous home crowd that saw the women's team win the first game in the Foggy Bottom twin-bill, with an 89-44 thrashing against Stonehill.

The James Bishop A-10 Player of the Year campaign will have to wait until next game to get started, as the preseason All-Everything for GW got to watch his teammates get the squad off to a rousing start Monday night at the Charles E. Smith Center. Led by a sensational performance from Garrett Johnson in his collegiate debut, 12 Revolutionaries found the scoring column in a game when GW shot 50.8% from the floor and 41.7% from 3-point range en route to 15 made threes, one off the school record. Five of those triples came off the hands of Johnson, the Princeton transfer, who came back to the DMV after growing up in nearby Oakton, Va. His game-high 21 points came coupled with a team-high nine rebounds for the local product, who had been out of competitive basketball for two-and-a-half years and wasn't sure if he'd ever play basketball again.

For his part, preseason All A-10 Second Teamer Maximus Edwards began his sophomore season with 19 points, matching Johnson's five three-pointers, and ripped down seven rebounds of his own.

The Revolutionaries enjoyed a 37-20 lead at halftime before putting the pedal to the floor in a 52-24 second half sprint.

In his Buff & Blue debut, Benny Schröder also introduced himself to the Smith Center faithful in style. After playing limited minutes last season at Oklahoma, the Munich, Germany native chipped in 12 points and six rebounds in his first taste of D.C.

Another Power 5 transfer, Babatunde Akingbola, drew the start at the five after backing up a pair of current NBA big men at Auburn. He instantly made his presence felt with game-highs of four blocks and three steals as a true paint presence on defense.

Darren Buchanan Jr. (Jackson-Reed) made his collegiate debut after returning home following a year at Virginia Tech, and scored nine points and corralled four boards in his 15:07 off the bench.

True first-years Jacoi Hutchinson from Laurel, Md., (five points, four rebounds) in 28:13 and Trey Autry (five points in a starting role) gave a glimpse of the future for GW. George Washington, now looking to go 2-0 for the second consecutive season, welcomes in The Tribe of William & Mary on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off at the Smith Center, streamed live on ESPN+.