Josh Strongin takes over the GWUBAF site for the month of March with postseason commentary on all things Colonials hoops. This installment: wrapping things up.

Ayooooooo team! Welcome to this year’s final TWIP, in which I will give thanks and praise to the last week of GW basketball. “For we are entering the end of the holiest of months and GW is going to play basketball at the mecca, and for this we say amen.” Let’s get to it.

Ahhh, one last cruel twist in a season of satisfying highs and soul-crushing lows. All season, we have been asking when this team will finally live up to its potential. Lo and behold, here we are. Yes, it’s frustrating that this didn’t happen until after they blew their NCAA chance, but we aren’t going to complain about that; we are going to enjoy what we are watching and the possibility that GW might win a postseason tournament. There are 8 teams still playing postseason basketball and GW is one of them, and for that they should be celebrated no matter what came before. Let’s get in a nice little recap of the last wins and marvel at what this team has turned into.

Final score of 87-71. Hoo boy, what a game. Coming in, Monmouth had lost once all year at home, so bonus points to GW going on the road and taking this one. Let’s start with Yuta, the game’s MVP. If you just looked at the box score you would see 6 points/9 boards/1 block/3 TOs, which is nothing to write home about. However, Yuta played an absolutely suffocating defense. Monmouth’s best player happened to be a little quick point guard who can shoot (GW KRYPTONITE RED ALERT) named Justin Robinson, but Yuta held him to 2/16 shooting 0/5 from three and 6 points; easily Robinson’s worst performance of the year. Yuta was almost a foot taller than Robinson and still managed to stay with him the whole game. Even when he didn’t, he altered almost every shot that was taken and only had 1 foul. You could see by the end of the game how frustrated Robinson was because of Yuta’s D. Say what you want about the offense (and we’ll get there in a sec) but Yuta’s defense was the real reason they won this game.

We also need to take a moment and wax poetic about what Yuta’s last two years could be like because HOO BOY. If he can put on another 15 pounds of muscle, rework his jump shot, and learn a post move or two…. I’m fanning myself thinking of the possibilities. You know how everyone’s always talking about how great of a two-way player Pato is? Yuta can do all of that except he’s taller, has more athleticism, can guard more positions, and could have a better offensive repertoire. If he can put it together, he’ll win an A-10 POY award. It’s not guaranteed, but the possibility is fun to think about.

Sooooo the offense was fun in this game. It started with Kevin Larsen being aggressive early on (spoiler alert: every good GW game the last 4 years has started with this sentence). More surprisingly, Joe McDonald was also aggressive early, carrying the offense in the first half. One of the things I love about Joe Mac’s game is that he generally never forces his offense. He tries to get everyone else going, and only aggressively hunts his shot late in games when the team needs buckets. So it was refreshing and surprising to see him play so aggressively, and I think it really got the offense humming. Pato hunted drives to the hoop and nailed his open threes. Tyler wreaked havoc inside and out. But what really opened the floodgates on the offense was the Mitola/Larsen pick and pop game. It took them a while to get some chemistry, but this play has turned into a deathtrap for opposing teams. Here are your options:

• Let Mitola drive which then turns into a layup, easy bucket for Tyler inside, or a kickout three to Pato.
• Let Kevin take the top of the key 3 which in theory sounds great except Kev has perfected this shot and is hitting it at an absurd 50% clip.
• Defend both of those and allow a back cut easy layup from Joe or Pato.

So yeah. GW has honed this, and their offense as a whole, into a monster. 87 points in this game, 4th in a row with 80 plus points, 5th to come in just a sec.

Final score of 82-77. Another power 5 team comes to the Smith Center, another power 5 team loses in the Smith Center. GW’s last non-conference loss at home was December 8 2012, against Kansas State. Soooo yeah, they’re good at home against non-conference teams, power 5 or not. This was a great back-and-forth game that saw a whole bunch of lead changes, and neither team ever lead by more 8. This was Kevin Larsen’s best game maybe ever. He went 19/13/3 and it was everything we’ve ever wanted from him rolled up into one game. He was aggressive offensively, he finished at the rim, he got offensive rebounds, he got HUGE defensive rebounds, he played stout defense. The reason me and Lonergan and literally everyone who covers GW always begs for Larsen to be aggressive is that when he does it for a whole game, this is what happens. The offense runs through him, and it is no coincidence that he’s turned it up here at the end of the season and the team has put together this string of 80 point games.

Meanwhile Pato put in another solid offensive game and scored 13 without hitting a three. It was great to see him continue to drive and finish at the basket instead of settling for threes. Which brings me to Tyler Cavanuagh. The three wasn’t really falling for anyone in this game until Florida made a run at the end and tied it up at 55. That’s went Tyler went supernova and started hitting basically every shot he took. He ended the night with 23 points and 1 HUGE three to seal the game. Guess which play they ran to get that shot? That bread and butter pick and pop discussed above. Ughhhh it’s so beautiful, the offense is so good right now. It was also great to see GW close a big game. Other than the UVA game and the Maryland buzzer beater 2 years ago, GW has continually struggled in games that came down to the final minute. In this NIT alone they’ve won two such games. I’ll take that.

First up will be San Diego State, and if they win that game, it’ll be the winner of Valpo/BYU. I’m really proud of this team for getting here. Sure, they underperformed all year and missed the NCAA tournament. But it would’ve been very easy for them to pack it in and not try in the NIT at all, and they’ve done the opposite of that. It’s especially evident in the seniors, who are playing like they realize this is their last chance to do something. They are doing everything they can to bring home some hardware and a whole lot of pride.

So San Diego State. Yet another mid-major team who was expected to win their conference tournament and crapped the bed. They run on defense, defense, and more defense. They rank 3rd nationally in defensive efficiency and hold opponents to a paltry 42% shooting. So this should be an interesting matchup; GW’s juggernaut offense vs SDSU’s stifling D. I would expect a low scoring game, but if GW gets to 70, they’ll probably win. SDSU’s offense leaves A LOT to be desired; they’re not good at shooting threes (32%) and while recently they’ve been averaging close to 80 points, when they are off, they are REALLY off. Early in the season they lost to Grand Canyon (yes that’s a real school) 52-45 (yes that’s a real score) and this was one of several times SDSU didn’t crack 50. I would expect GW to deploy the zone a little more than normal because of how poorly the Aztecs shoot threes. On the flip side, GW might struggle with the length of SDSU. Seemingly everyone on their team sits between 6’6 and 6’9. This won’t be a problem with the starting lineup because GW’s is gigantic but it’s gonna be harder for GW to go small with Mitola and PJ, because they’ll get smothered. It’ll be extremely important to win the rebounding battle in this game on both ends. Likewise, anytime GW can push the tempo to score quickly, they should. GW can compete in a dogfight, grind it out kind of game (see UVA) but if that’s the way this game goes, it will favor SDSU. This is a very winnable game for GW, although SDSU will be favored. I think it’s going to come down to the rebounding and who makes fewer mistakes in the last few minutes of the game.

If they win, GW will be playing for the NIT Championship (A CHAMPIONSHIP Y’ALL) against either Valpo or BYU. Valpo is YET ANOTHER TEAM that was expected to win their conference tournament and failed because this season is DRUNK. They have a dude named Alec Peters who is a 6’9 forward averaging 19 points and 8 rebounds on 51/45/85 shooting (that would be fg%, three %, and ft%). That’s… That’s sort of good. He would quite clearly be the key to Valpo. Stop him and GW should be good to go, but stopping him is going to be a trek, because theoretically Tyler would guard and he’s GW’s worst defender. Meanwhile, BYU. They, amazingly, enough are not a team that was expected to win their conference tourney, so that’s new and fun. They do, however, have Kyle Collinsworth, who is a 6’6 guard and a triple-double machine, averaging 15/8/8. BYU averages 84 points and shoots threes close to 40%. They’re good at offense. Really, really good. However, both of these teams’ schedules leave a lot to be desired, and GW would have a good chance to beat both schools. Also. It is still March which means your regular season accolades and stats still mean nothing for how you are doing right now (Syracuse’s dumpster fire of a team is proving that wholeheartedly as they find themselves in the Final Four, somehow).

I’m really proud of how this season is ending. This is a big deal, even if it’s not the main event. To get to the final four of the NIT is a huge accomplishment, and also something no other GW team has done. GW will tie the record for most wins a season with a win Tuesday, and could break the record if they win the championship game Thursday. Playing at MSG is a huge deal for basketball at any and every level, and the fact that these seniors get to end their careers there makes me so so so so happy for them. If at any point during this next game (hopefully next two) Joe McDonald has tears in his eyes someone please fly to Atlanta and properly dispose of my corpse. I love him and the other seniors so much and it’s gonna be hard to see the team without them next year after everything they have done.

I have enjoyed writing these postseason TWIPs for y’all, so thank you so much for putting up with them, and I hope you have enjoyed and/or learned something. Also a huge thanks to Katie for putting together the GWUBAF website and editing these things into readable material with some semblance of grammar. Until next time, team. Raise High always and forever.