George Washington 60, Wichita State 54

[December 26, 2014]   George Washington 60, No. 11 Wichita State 54: Freshman Yuta Watanabe scored eight of his 10 points during a key second-half surge as the Colonials upset the Shockers in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

Kethan Savage had 12 points and three steals for George Washington (9-3), which defeated a ranked opponent for only the second time in its last 20 tries. Kevin Larsen tallied 10 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Colonials won for the sixth time in seven games in their first-ever meeting with Wichita State.

Fred VanVleet was the only other player to finish in double figures, scoring 11 points for the Shockers (10-2), who fell short in their bid to win three straight regular-season tournaments despite hitting 11 3-pointers. Ron Baker chipped in nine points and seven boards, Ria'n Holland added nine points on three triples and Darius Carter contributed seven points and nine boards.

Ten turnovers from George Washington led to 12 first-half points for Wichita State, but the Colonials were still able to forge a 28-28 tie at intermission on the strength of 57.9-percent shooting. After Joe McDonald’s bucket with 16:07 to go, George Washington could manage only two field goals over the next 7 1/2 minutes while Holland knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers to leave the Shockers with an eight-point edge midway through the second half.

The Colonials stormed back by hitting eight of their next nine shots – including two 3-pointers and jumper from Watanabe – during a 20-7 surge that allowed them to take a 57-52 lead with 2:50 to go. McDonald added a basket with 1:02 left to extend the margin to seven and Wichita State could only get a layup by Carter moments later as the Shockers misfired on their final three field-goal attempts.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Shockers, who claimed the 2012 Cancun Challenge and 2013 CBE Classic, had won 39 of their last 41 regular-season non-conference contests. … George Washington’s 26th-ranked scoring defense held each of its three opponents in Hawaii to 54 or fewer points. … The Colonials finished 9-of-15 beyond the arc, with the resulting 60-percent 3-point accuracy resulting in the team’s highest single-game mark in that area since the 2011-12 season.

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