7pm on ESPN tonight.

I’m assuming the hashtag #NITerrific will be in effect tonight on Twitter. Hopefully only with humor, cynicism and a touch sarcasm; but not bitterness. It’s fine line between being willing to poke fun at your own team and self-loathing/hatred.

GW was never a serious threat to make the NCAA Tournament, but they had a solid season. Big wins over Wichita State (and even, Hawai’i dammit) to win the Diamond Head Classic. Wins over NCAA Tournament teams Dayton and Rhode Island in the A-10.

They aren’t a particularly deep team, as four of their starting players average 30 minutes or more. Their top six players accounted for 86.45% of the available minutes this past year. They also don’t rely on any one scorer. Those same top-4  starting players averaged between 12.4 and 10.2 points per game.

Their tempo is close to Pitt’s both are in the 300s per KenPom. GW has a slightly better defense than offense.

There’s not a lot of familiarity with GW, and it has been a while since they played one another.

George Washington has good size and is one of the better rebounding teams in the country. Pitt is undersized and have consistently struggled with big teams.

Junior guard/?forward Patricio Garino is the Colonials’ leading scorer (12.4 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game), but they have three others who average double figures. That makes their attack balanced.

Although George Washington and Pitt haven’t played each other in a long time there is some history between the programs.

They were two of the original members of the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League, which became known as the Eastern 8. That conference, which existed from 1976-81 before morphing into the A-10 in 1982, consisted of Pitt, Penn State, Villanova, George Washington, West Virginia, Duquesne, Rutgers and Massachusetts.

Villanova left for the Big East in 1980, and Pitt left for the Big East in 1982. Over those two years St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Temple and St. Joseph’s joined.

Pitt enjoys a 17-9 series edge over George Washington. The series was close until the final few seasons, when Pitt won six of seven meetings with the Colonials.

1982 was the last time the two teams met.

There may be a sense of how the game might go early. Given that the Colonials are streaky on their 3-point shooting.

Pitt’s deficiencies on defense have been chronicled all season.

The Panthers rank No. 304 among 345 Division I teams in steals per game (5.1), No. 290 in field-goal defense (45.2 percent), No. 250 in 3-point defense (35.6) and blocks per game (2.8), and No. 148 in scoring defense (65.8 points).

George Washington is a streaky 3-point shooting team capable of explosive outbursts.

In the Colonials past two victories, they connected on 24 of 38 3-pointers, including 14 of 18 triples in a 87-65 victory over Massachusetts. Conversely, the Colonials only hit 1 of 16 3-pointers in a 71-58 loss to Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinals.

“We’re last in 3-point field goal defense in conference play,” said Dixon, whose team also ranks last in the ACC in field-goal percentage. “And yet we’re right there for fewest attempts. Guys are making shots on us at a high rate. It’s hard to understand.”

Yes and no.

There have definitely been some games where Pitt just got destroyed by a team that was hot/streaky shooting on 3s. The Clemson game comes to mind. Others where they took a chance on letting them shoot 3s to defend the interior — Duke — and paid dearly. Then there were more than a few games where Pitt’s perimeter defense was just plain awful. Slow to rotate or get out on shooters. Giving too much respect to dribble penetration to give the cushion for players to square up and take clean looks.

I would prefer to see Pitt play tight on the perimeter to start the game — even giving up some drives to the basket — rather than letting GW get comfortable and confident in shooting 3s early.

Of course, the problem for Pitt has been doing what they know they are supposed to do.

Sophomore Jamel Artis may lead the Panthers in scoring as a first-year starter, but he’s more concerned with how things stack up defensively.

“Team defense,” Artis said. “We have to make stops as a team. Our guards have to stay in front of people.”

The Panthers’ inability to prevent opposing guards from penetrating and kicking the ball out to open shooters has resulted in season-long defensive breakdowns.

“It’s (not) understanding, it has to be,” Dixon said, “because we’re drilling it, we’re showing it, and it’s just not coming across and not getting done.”

It’s been the problem. The players themselves have consistently acknowledged what they are supposed to do. But come game time, more often than not, they don’t.