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The UMass Minutemen take on the George Washington Colonials tonight at 9:00 p.m. at the Barclays Center which can be seen on NBCSN.
The Minutemen won the first meeting between the two teams by a score of 67-61. Sampson Carter had his best game of the season scoring 20 points and adding four rebounds while Chaz Williams struggled with foul trouble during the game.
Cady Lalanne didn't play much Thursday night against URI, but Maxie Esho had a stellar performance in his absence scoring 15 points and providing a much needed inside presence. All four big men: Carter, Lalanne, Esho, and Raphiael Putney will need to play big inside and lock down the paint defensively against a very talented GW team.
The Colonials were well represented on the A-10 All-Conference Teams with Isaiah Armwood voted to the second team as he averaged 12.3 points and 8.7 boards. Lalanne should have his hands full with him on the defensive end. Maurice Creek, GW's leading scorer at 14.6 points per game, and Patricio Garino were named to the third team. Creek finished the regular season with three straight 20-point games.
Williams forced the issue early in the game against URI, but finally settled down and hit a huge step back three to seal the game for UMass. GW will look to contain the Minutemen's point guard as URI did in the first half. The Colonials have the offensive firepower to keep up with UMass as they average 73.6 points per game which is only 2.5 points behind Derek Kellogg's squad. GW won't be intimidated with UMass' style of play as they have plenty of depth, and talented depth at that.