When fifth-seeded Colorado and 12-seed Georgetown collide Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, it will feature a battle of two programs that take pride in rebounding.
For Georgetown's part, which this year has out-rebounded the opposition by over five boards per game (40.2-35.1), that identity comes as no surprise given its 6-foot-11 head coach, Patrick Ewing, strung together nine straight seasons of double digit rebounding per game during his dominant NBA career.
At any rate, the Hoyas have only been out-rebounded five times this season; the Buffs have been slightly more, with eight teams getting the better of them on the glass, while holding a 35.0-30.8 average advantage on the year in rebounds per game.
Leading Georgetown in that regard is 6-foot-11 sophomore center Qudus Wahab, averaging 8.0 boards per game to go along with 12.4 points. What's more, Wahab also averages 2.5 rebounds per game in the offensive zone.
“It starts with the Wahab kid," Tad Boyle said Friday. "He gets his hands on a lot of balls and even if he doesn’t get the rebound, he taps it or tips it and keeps the ball alive."
Jeriah Horne, Colorado's leading rebounder per game as well in total boards, can be relied on to pitch in his nightly average of 5.8
Aside from him, every night on the glass is also going to require Colorado big men Evan Battey and Dallas Walton to lend their hands to the cause.
Against lengthier opponents such as Georgetown, it'll likely take even more of a collective effort across positions and up and down the roster.
While Battey and Walton can make their presence known by extending plays on offense, where the likes of McKinley Wright IV, Maddox Daniels and Eli Parquet can give the Buffs a boost is in the defensive zone.
“We’ve got to have all five guys — on the defensive glass especially — helps us," Boyle said. "Our guards have to help us rebound. I’ve said this multiple times, but when I look at the stat sheet after the game and I see our guards having four or five or six defensive rebounds, it’s usually been a good defensive rebounding night for us.”
Standing in the way of the Buffs being able to do that are two other bigs for the Hoyas that buttress Wahab on a nightly basis.
Senior guard/forward Jamorko Pickett is next behind Wahab with 7.4 rebounds per game while senior forward Chudier Bile, a grad transfer from Northwestern State who's a Denver South High School alum, has snagged on average 5.1 rebounds per contest this season.
Both players also are regular offensive contributors, averaging north of 10 points per game.
“They’ve got a guy like Pickett, who’s a good rebounder, 6-foot-9 and plays in the 3-spot for them," Boyle said. "The Bile kid is a good, active athlete, so, they’re a good rebounding team. They’ve got great length at different positions.”
Colorado doubtless will have a lot on the plate in terms of stopping Georgetown offensively, no doubt about it, but the offensive and defensive boards will serve as Saturday's trenches.
Whomever holds the line in that respect, limiting second chances for opponents, will likely be poised to be the team that comes out on top.
"Georgetown relies on their length and athleticism," Boyle said. "I wouldn’t say they’re a great box-out team, so if we can fly around, get guys in the lane and get our hands on balls — we just have to battle. That’s really an area on the stat sheet where toughness shows up, energy shows up, intensity shows up — it shows up in rebounding.”
The Buffs and Hoyas tipoff from Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday at 10:15 a.m. MST.
