Facing one the biggest rebuilding tasks of his seven seasons at George Washington, head coach Karl Hobbs knew he would have to be patient. But it was difficult for him to mask his frustrations Sunday after the young and inexperienced Colonials committed 21 turnovers and played sparse defense en route to their third straight defeat, a 74-70 loss to Auburn in the 2007 BB&T Classic opener at Verizon Center.
“I think that we’re just not very good ball handlers,” said Hobbs, who has just one senior on his roster, Maureece Rice (11 points, four turnovers). The Colonials (2-3) are off to their worst start of Hobbs’ tenure in Foggy Bottom.
Frank Tolbert (game-high 24 points) and Korvortney Barber (21 points, nine rebounds) combined to shoot 72 percent (18-for-25) from the field for the Tigers (4-1), who shot over 54 percent as a team despite an average of more than 37 minutes on the floor for each of their five starters. DeWayne Reed added ten points and eight steals.
Aided by Wynton Witherspoon (17 points, seven rebounds), who finished the game with five 3-pointers, George Washington shot its way back from eight-point deficits to tie the game late in each half.
With the game tied at 30, Robert Diggs (15 points, nine rebounds) scored twice to spark a 7-0 run that put the Colonials ahead, 37-30, but the Tigers responded with an 8-0 run to take a 38-37 lead into halftime.
