Patriots Tussle with VCU Wednesday in Richmond
The George Mason University men’s basketball team (12-8, 4-3) heads down I-95 for a Wednesday night affair vs. VCU (15-5, 6-1) inside the Siegel Center.
Tip-off between the Patriots and Rams is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday’s game will be broadcast on MASN and streamed on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Sean Robertson and John Feinstein. In addition, Bill Rohland will handle play-by-play duties on the GoMason Digital Network, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. (ET).
PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots are coming off a 79-72 win at Rhode Island Saturday. Mason shot an A-10 season-best 54.5 percent against URI’s top-75 effective field goal defensive unit and knocked down 9-of-20 3-pointers (.450).
• Senior Josh Oduro led Mason with 24 points (10-15 FG), 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks at URI. He is averaging 21.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists over Mason’s past five games.
• Graduate guard DeVon Cooper added a season-best 20 points and tied his career high with five 3-pointers on just eight attempts. It marked his 11th game with 10+ points this season.
• Junior Ronald Polite III dished out a game-high eight assists and added seven points and five rebounds. He’s averaging 13.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists in A-10 play.
• With the victory over URI, Mason improved to 7-1 when it shoots 50 percent or better from the floor and 8-3 when the team scores 70+ points.
• Mason ranks second in the A-10 and 54th nationally in 3pt FG percentage (.368). The Patriots are shooting 43.6 percent (17-39) from deep over the past two games.
• Oduro paces the A-10 and ranks 23rd nationally with eight double-doubles this season. He leads the A-10 with 10.9 rebounds/contest in league play and is fourth in scoring (18.6 ppg). He’s also averaging 5.2 offensive rebounds/game over the past five contests. Oduro leads the league in offensive boards/contest in A-10 play (4.14).
• With his second rebound vs. GW on Jan. 16, Oduro became just the fourth player in school history with 1,000 career points, 600 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 assists.
• Amongst players nationally 6-foot-9 and above, Oduro ranks seventh in assists (60).
• Graduate guard Victor Bailey Jr. is shooting a sizzling 56.4 percent (31-55) from 3pt range over the past 11 games.
• The Patriots rank 26th nationally in effective field goal percentage (.543), marking Mason’s most efficient shooting mark in the KenPom era (2001-23).
• George Mason is 10-1 at home this season and 20-5 inside EagleBank Arena under head coach Kim English. Mason’s 10-0 home start was the program’s best since 2010-11.
• The Patriots are 10-2 in weekend games this season (Friday-Sunday) and 2-6 in games played Monday-Wednesday.
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