Mason Hosts Throwback Battle with Hofstra Wednesday

By Press release submission

Dec 1, 2022

WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
RECORDS: George Mason (3-4, 0-0), Hofstra (6-2, 0-0)
SERIES: George Mason leads, 15-8
TELEVISION: MASN2
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)
TICKETS: Click here

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team faces off with old CAA rival Hofstra on Wednesday night inside EagleBank Arena.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Pride is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday's game will be televised on MASN2 and streamed on ESPN+. The broadcast will feature commentary from Bill Rohland and Craig Esherick. In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network. Saturday's pregame coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. (ET).

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots are 3-0 at home this season and 13-4 inside EagleBank Arena under head coach Kim English.

• Mason is coming off a 72-65 victory over Queens on Saturday in Fairfax. The Patriots led for nearly the entire second half and shot 50 percent from the floor. Mason is now a perfect 3-0 when shooting 50 percent or better this season.

• Point guard Ronald Polite III returned from a two-game injury absence to lead Mason with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. The Patriots were +19 while he was on the court. Mason is now 3-1 when Polite plays 20+ minutes this season.

• After committing 16.3 turnovers per game and posting a -5.3 average turnover margin in three Paradise Jam games, Mason had just eight turnovers in the win over Queens and was +2.0 in margin. The Patriots are 3-0 when committing less than 15 turnovers so far this season.

• DeVon Cooper is shooting 51.5 percent (17-33) from 3pt range over the past five games. He has now made 231 career 3-pointers, which ranks 26th nationally. He needs two more triples to pass former teammate D'Shawn Schwartz for third most all time by a George Mason player. Cooper has made 98 of those triples in a Mason uniform.

• Senior Josh Oduro notched 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks vs. Queens. He is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 50 percent from the floor over the past three games.

• Oduro is now just 57 points away from 1,000 for his career. Victor Bailey Jr. is only 25 points away from 1,000.

• Though Mason is 3-4 on the season, the Patriots have been outscored by just seven total points (472-479). Turnovers have been a big part of the difference, as Mason is -20 (90-110) in points off turnovers over the seven games.

• The Patriots are shooting 51.6 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3 in home games, but just 41.2 percent overall and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc in road and neutral site affairs.

• Mason again struggled from the free throw line against Queens (8-15, .533). For the season, the Patriots rank 344th out of 363 teams nationally in free throw percentage (.590).

• Mason ranks fourth in the A-10 and is 70th nationally in 3pt FG% (.373) through seven games this season.

• The Patriots' four opponents on their current homestand are a combined 17-10 this season. That includes Queens (5-2), Hofstra (6-2), Toledo (4-2) and UMES (2-4).

HISTORY vs. CAA OPPONENTS
George Mason is 184-118 (.609) all time against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Patriots competed in the league from 1985-2013. After the departures of VCU, Old Dominion and James Madison over the past decade, Mason's most common opponents in the current iteration of the league are UNC Wilmington (40-31), William & Mary (40-28) and Towson (33-11).

HISTORY vs. HOFSTRA
Wednesday's game marks the 24th meeting between George Mason and old CAA rival Hofstra and the first matchup since the Patriots left the league in 2013. Mason holds a 15-8 advantage in the all time series. Mason is 9-1 against the Pride in Fairfax and has won 10 of the past 11 meetings overall. The two programs also met three times in the CAA Tournament (2001, 2006, 2007) with the Pride winning two of those three matchups. In the most recent matchup, the Patriots won in Hempstead, 79-50, on Feb. 20, 2013.

A LOOK AT THE PRIDE (6-2, 0-0 CAA; KenPom #125)
Hofstra was picked to finish second out of 13 teams in the 2022-23 CAA preseason poll. The Pride is 6-2 to begin the season, including a win at Princeton (83-77) and home victories over top-100 foe Iona (83-78) and George Washington (85-80). Hofstra leads the CAA in free throw percentage (.775) and is second in 3pt percentage (.378). Aaron Estrada ranks first in the CAA and 22nd nationally in scoring (20.5 ppg) while ranking third in the league in field goal percentage (.521). He also dishes out a team-best 4.3 assists per game and shoots 40.5 percent from 3pt range. Tyler Thomas chips in 12 points per contest, while Darlinstone Dubar is at 11.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Original source can be found here