Men's Basketball Treks to Rhode Island Wednesday

Wednesday, January 8

Kingston, RI

7:00 p.m.

George Washington University

Rhode Island

Christian Jones hits one of his five three-pointers vs. Dayton

A-10 Rookie of the Week Christian Jones hit five three-pointers in a win against Dayton.

1/7/2025 10:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Fresh off a 20-point thumping of Dayton on Saturday, GW men's basketball heads to Rhode Island on Wednesday seeking its first A-10 road win of the year. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with coverage available on ESPN+.

SIGNIFICANT SATURDAY
GW's 20-point win over Dayton on Saturday marked its largest victory over the Flyers since an 81-61 triumph on Jan. 18, 1998. It was also Dayton's largest margin of defeat in an A-10 game in nearly three years since losing at VCU, 66-43, on Jan. 23, 2021.

The Flyers, ranked 33rd in KenPom at tip-off, are the highest ranked team GW has beaten since March 4, 2017, when GW topped Dayton, which coincidentally also ranked 33rd at that time.

JONES NAMED A-10 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman Christian Jones made his second career start count on Saturday vs. Dayton, scoring 11 of the first 14 points en route to a career-best 23 points (7-14 FG, 5-8 3s). Jones earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors for his efforts, averaging 14.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 2.0 apg while shooting 50% from beyond the arc in his first two career conference contests.

The Stratford, Conn., native has come into his own over the last six games, reaching double digits four times and averaging 12.2 ppg during the stretch while shooting 53.2% (25-47) overall and 52% (13-25) from beyond the arc. Jones now ranks seventh in the A-10 overall, and second among rookies, in 3-point percentage at 43.9%.

DEFENSE TRAVELS
GW has limited its last five opponents to 66 points or fewer, good for an average of 62.4 ppg in the stretch. The Revolutionaries are currently fifth in the A-10, and 77th nationally, limiting foes to 67.0 ppg, a far cry from last year's team that yielded 77.3 ppg, ranking 14th in the A-10 and 310 nationally.

GW has held its opponent to fewer than 70 points 10 times this year after doing so just 17 times combined in the first two years under Coach Caputo. The Buff & Blue are now 124th in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric, its highest ranking since 2015-16, and a 140-spot improvement from last year's team that finished 264th. The 140-point jump is tied for the 20th-largest in the country this year.

Saturday's win over Dayton, in which GW held the Flyers to 0.914 points per possession, was the Revolutionaries' second-best defensive performance vs. an A-10 foe under Coach Caputo, only bettered on Jan. 15, 2024 vs. George Mason (0.854 ppp).

A LOOK AT THE RAMS
Rhode Island has been one of the big surprises in the A-10 thus far this year, sitting at 12-2 on the season and 9-0 at home. The Rams are 1-1 in league play following a last-second 62-59 win over George Mason on Saturday, URI's third-win over a top-100 foe this season. Rhody has also beaten Yale (84-78) and Providence (69-63) on its home floor.

Sebastian Thomas delivered the dagger for the Rams on Saturday and is the team's top threat, ranking fourth in the league with 18.3 ppg. Thomas began his career at URI before playing last season at Albany and returning to the Rams this year. Thomas also leads the A-10 with 6.4 assists per game and is top-five in the loop in free throw makes and attempts.

Rhode Island is the only A-10 team that gets to the free throw line more frequently than GW, averaging 20.2 makes and 28.0 attempts at the stripe, both third-most in the country.