Gonzaga vs George Washington (+8.5) - 2:30pm Pacific

When I made the decision to pass last night, I had no idea this line would be this high.  Second year head coach Karl Hobbs is building a nice program at GW.  The Colonials are deep with young talent following two very impressive recruiting classes.  Junior point guard T.J. Thompson runs the show and is a good one.  Junior UNLV transfer guard Lafonte Johnson is also good and adds experience.  Forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu (23 points, 11 rebounds yesterday), forward Mike Hall (3 points shy of double double yesterday) and F/C Omar Williams lead an impressive sophomore class.   Freshman G/F Carl Elliot (13 points, 7 assists yesterday) is a very good looking player, has a strong body and plays more like an upperclassmen than a freshman.  The Colonials have played well in almost every outing.  Their only loss of the season came at Appalachian State by 3.  They had just beaten the same team by 14 at home and played them on the road 5 days later so I am willing to excuse it.  They own a solid road win at Charlotte, and the West Virginia team they beat yesterday is better than average.

 

Gonzaga made the long trip east and knocked off Maryland in an intense game yesterday.  Top inside player Ronny Turiaf sprained an ankle and was limited to just 23 minutes and 7 points.  He may be limited again today.  The Zags got a nice win, but clearly Maryland with all of their youth is not the same Maryland team of recent years.  Gonzaga needed overtime to hold off Georgia last weekend at home.  That was a revenge situation for them and it should have been an easier game.  They beat instate rival Washington on Wednesday night so fatigue could easily be a factor.  Hard to give them much credit for that win as the Huskies came back to get trounced by Wyoming in their next game. 

 

George Washington has the home crowd advantage and is a much, much quicker team than Gonzaga.  That should bode well for them as both teams are playing back to back games.  The Zags clearly have a weakness playing against quick teams and quick guards (i.e. St Joseph's).  Look for the Colonials to be very competitive here and even contend for an upset win.

 

George Washington  1 UNIT