The UMass Minutemen and the George Washington Colonials meet Saturday in college basketball action from Charles E. Smith Center. UMass is 10-4 so far this year. The Minutemen beat Saint Louis in their last game. As for George Washington, they’re 7-8 overall following a loss to Richmond on Wednesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UMass posted an 8-2 run over their first 10 games this year, falling to only Towson and UMass Lowell. Since then it’s been a 2-2 run with losses to North Texas and St. Bonaventure alongside wins over Dartmouth and Saint Louis.
Matched up against Saint Louis on Wednesday, the Minutemen took a 40-29 advantage into the second half. UMass was outscored 52-50 from there but still won 90-81. Noah Fernandes led the team on 26 points with seven assists.
Over on the George Washington side, they were 6-4 after 10 games with losses to Hofstra, UC San Diego, Radford and American. The Colonials have since gone 1-4 with losses to Washington State, Pepperdine, Seattle and Richmond.
In the Richmond game Wednesday, the Colonials took a 39-37 edge into halftime. George Washington was outscored 36-24 from there in a 73-63 loss. James Bishop led the way on 25 points with five assists.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with UMass. The Minutemen need a convincing performance in this one; they’ve been a little shaky over the last four games. UMass posted a combined 108 points in their last two losses, however they should be able to post a nice total in this one. As for George Washington, they’ve been pretty flat over this 1-4 run but they haven’t been scoring terribly. I like the Colonials to hang around for most of the game before a late cover/win from UMass.