Patriots Wrap Up Homestand Tuesday vs. UMES

By Press release submission

Dec 8, 2022

The George Mason University men's basketball team wraps up a four-game homestand Tuesday night with a contest against Maryland Eastern Shore.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Hawks is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Bill Rohland will handle play-by-play duties. In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network. Tuesday's pregame coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. (ET).

• The Patriots are 5-0 at home this season and 15-4 inside EagleBank Arena under head coach Kim English.

• The Green & Gold have won the first three games of the homestand. Most recently, the Patriots upended top-100 foe Toledo, 80-73, on Saturday afternoon in Fairfax.

• Mason held the Rockets' top-10 scoring offense (86.9 ppg) to just 73 points and its top-40 field goal percentage unit (.491) to 40.9 percent (27-66) from the floor.

• DeVon Cooper led the Patriots with 19 points (8-12 FG, 3-5 3pt FG) in the contest. He's tallied 10+ points in six of the past seven contests for the Green & Gold.

• Victor Bailey Jr. notched 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists vs. the Rockets, which marked the first double-double of his career. He hit a critical 3-pointer with less than two minutes to go and a number of key free throws down the stretch.

• Josh Oduro played just 14 minutes Saturday due to foul trouble. But Mason received key contributions from a number of key reserves and held a 26-14 edge in bench scoring for the game. Mason's much-improved depth has been a major reason for the team's current three-game winning streak.

• Bailey Jr. is only six points away from 1,000 for his career. Oduro is 30 points away.

• Cooper has made 235 career 3-pointers, which ranks 26th nationally. He has made 102 of those triples in a Mason uniform.

• Mason has held its opponent to 30 percent or less from 3pt range in seven of nine games this season. The Green & Gold rank 54th nationally in 3pt FG defense (.285).

• The Patriots' four opponents on their current homestand are a combined 21-13 this season. That includes Queens (7-2), Hofstra (6-3), Toledo (5-3) and UMES (3-5).

ODURO STARTING ASCENT UP PATRIOT RECORD LISTS
Senior Josh Oduro is rapidly climbing a number of Mason all-time lists. With 964 points, he currently is t-42nd all time in school history. He also has recorded 99 career blocks, which is ninth most in program annals. His 513 career rebounds place him 24th on that all-time list.

HISTORY vs. MEAC OPPONENTS
Mason is 25-21 all time against schools currently in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Patriots' most common foes are fellow DMV programs Coppin State (8-14) and Howard (7-4). In the most recent meeting with a MEAC school, the Patriots knocked off Morgan State on Nov. 14, 2021 by the score of 90-53.

HISTORY vs. UMES
Tuesday's game marks the third all-time meeting between George Mason and UMES in men's basketball and the first since the 1982-83 campaign. The Patriots have won the previous two matchups, both of which were played inside EagleBank Arena.

A LOOK AT THE HAWKS (3-5, 0-0 MEAC; KenPom #318)
UMES was picked to finish sixth out of eight teams in the 2022-23 MEAC preseason poll. The Hawks are 3-5 to begin the campaign and own wins over Marist (70-59) and Lehigh (64-60). UMES' struggles have come on the offensive end of the floor, where the Hawks ranks 343rd nationally in efficiency (0.92 points/possession). Zion Styles leads the team in scoring (11.6 ppg) and grabs 4.3 rebounds per contest. Preseason All-MEAC Second Team selection Da'Shawn Phillip adds 11.0 points and shoots 38.2 percent from beyond the arc, while Kevon Voyles also averages 11.0 points/game.