GW stays perfect in A-10 play

Playing a home game as a top-10 team for the first time in 50 years, George Washington lived up to its new ranking.

The No. 10 Colonials dissected Richmond 80-55 at Smith Center, posting their 10th consecutive victory. The Colonials (18-1, 8-0 Atlantic 10) can match the best 20-game record in program history with a win over struggling Dayton at home on Wednesday.

GW holds a three-game lead in the loss column over the rest of the league after completing the first half of the conference schedule undefeated.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Danilo Pinnock led the Colonials with 16 points each before an announced sellout crowd of 5,000. Mensah-Bonsu made his first six shots, providing a highlight reel of dunks and inside power moves. Pinnock was a potent defensive presence, making four of GW’s 14 steals as the ultra-quick Colonials smothered the Spiders with fullcourt pressure and forced 22 turnovers.

“Our offense couldn’t counteract the pressure of their defense,” first-year Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. “They really cover so much ground, and they are so fast that it is difficult. Passes that are open one second aren’t open the next.”

The Colonials beat up a wounded Richmond team that played with just seven scholarship players, including former walk-on Peter Thomas, who leads the team in minutes. The Spiders (11-10, 4-4) lost three players to transfers after last season, two recruits failed to qualify academically and two other players are out for the season because of injuries.

The situation is so bad that the Spiders turned forward Oumar Sylla into a point guard in their Princeton-style offense. The inexperienced playmaker was not ready for the Colonials’ relentless defensive pressure, which has forced more experienced and natural ballhandlers to crack.

As a result, Richmond committed as many turnovers as it made field goals (22). The Spiders scored only 18 points by halftime for the third time this season. It was not, however, their lowest total of the season: They scored only 14 in the first half in a loss to Wake Forest.

“Our intensity was terrific,” Colonials coach Karl Hobbs said. “We forced them to play the style we wanted to play. They have been dictating their style of play against everyone.”

The Colonials’ 80 points were the most Richmond allowed this season. The previous high against the Spiders, ranked second in the nation in scoring defense at 54 points a game, was 67 by La Salle.

Richmond cut an early nine-point GW lead to 13-9 on a 3-pointer by Gaston Moliva with 9:33 left in the first half. The Colonials responded with a 13-point run sparked by a flurry of steals and fastbreaks, which usually resulted in a layup or a trip to the foul line.

Mike Hall (15 points, eight rebounds) started the stretch by converting two free throws after getting fouled on a transition layup. A block by Omar Williams set up a fastbreak layup by Mensah-Bonsu, who was fouled and converted the free throw to make it 18-9.

A steal by Pinnock in the press set up Mensah-Bonsu’s reverse layup. Carl Elliott scored off his own midcourt steal to push the lead to 13. A Pinnock floater and Hall’s two successful foul shots make it 26-9 with 5:39 left.

The second half was more of the same, with forced turnovers and dizzying finishes in a blowout win of top-10 proportions.

“At the beginning of the game, I was a little timid to jump into the passing game because of how they play,” said Pinnock, whose team had a 24-4 advantage in fastbreak points. “Later in the game, I thought we had them playing a little faster than they wanted to play.”