New River Valley Times

Patriots Honor Senior Class Wednesday Night vs. Fordham

WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
RECORDS: George Mason (17-12, 9-7), Fordham (23-6, 11-5)
SERIES: Fordham leads, 9-5
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (17-12, 9-7) will honor its five-member senior class prior to Wednesday night's home finale against Fordham (23-6, 11-5).

The Patriots and Rams will do battle beginning at 7 p.m. The senior ceremony will begin at 6:42 p.m. The program will honor Victor Bailey Jr., DeVon Cooper, Davonte Gaines, Josh Oduro and Saquan Singleton during the pre-game festivities.

Wednesday's game will be televised on MASN and broadcast on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Bill Rohland and Craig Esherick. In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots sit in sixth place in the league standings and can move as high as fourth, depending on how the final week of the regular season plays out.

• The Patriots have won four-straight games, including a top-75 win at Dayton in the team's most recent outing on Saturday. The Patriots shot a season-best 58.1 percent (25-43) for the game and made 53.8 percent (7-13) of their 3-point attempts.

• Junior Ronald Polite III tied his career high with 22 points in the win, dished out a game-high six assists and made a crucial 8-of-8 attempts at the free throw line. The point guard is averaging 16.0 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and shooting 51.2 from 3-point range over the past four games.

• DeVon Cooper added 16 points (5-8 FG, 4-5 3pt FG) and a team-best five rebounds, while Josh Oduro added 12 points and four assists in just 23 minutes due to foul trouble.

• Oduro, a 2022 First Team All-A-10 selection, leads the league with 9.2 rebounds/contest in conference play, is fifth in field goal percentage (.598) and sixth in scoring (17.9 ppg). Oduro also paces the league in offensive boards/contest in A-10 play (3.31).

• The Patriots committed just eight turnovers at Dayton. Mason is now 7-2 when it has less turnovers than its opponent and 11-4 when committing less than 15 miscues. Although the Patriots average 13.6 turnovers/game this season, Mason is at just 7.7/contest over the past three games.

• During the Patriots' four-game win streak, Mason is averaging 71.3 points and shooting 48.1 percent while limiting opponents to just 63.8 points per contest. Oduro is at 20.8 points per game and shooting 68.5 percent during the streak, while Polite III is at 16.8 points and 5.8 assists while shooting 51.2 percent.

• Oduro is just the fourth player in school history with 1,300 career points, 600 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 assists. He is just eight rebounds away from 700. With five more points, Oduro will pass Erik Herring (1997-01) and move into 21st place on the all-time Mason scoring list.

• George Mason is 13-2 at home this season and 23-6 inside EagleBank Arena under head coach Kim English. It marks the team's best home record since the Patriots posted a perfect 15-1 mark in 2011-12.

HISTORY vs. FORDHAM
Wednesday's matchup marks the 15th all-time meeting between Mason and Fordham. The Rams hold a 9-5 advantage in the series, although the Patriots have won five of the past eight matchups. The teams have met four times in the A-10 Tournament. Fordham won both matchups last season, including a 50-47 triumph in the Bronx on Feb. 20, 2022 and a 54-49 win in Washington, D.C. on March 10 in the second round of the A-10 Championship. Josh Oduro tallied 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in that tournament contest inside Capital One Arena, while Ronald Polite III added 10 points and two assists. Oduro had nine points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the meeting inside Rose Hill.

A LOOK AT THE RAMS (23-6, 11-5 A-10; NET #138, KenPom #146)
Fordham was picked to finish 11th in the 2021-22 A-10 preseason poll, but currently sit in third place in the league standing with an 11-5 mark and 23-6 record overall. The Rams hold opponents to a 47.3 effective field goal percentage (45th nationally) and rank 17th in the nation with 5.0 blocks/game. Fordham also is 35th in the country in free throw attempts/game (21.5). Darius Quisenberry leads the team and ranks sixth in the conference with 17.1 points/contest. Khalid Moore averages 15.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and shoots 49.1 percent from the floor.

UP NEXT
George Mason wraps up the regular season with a Saturday afternoon contest at Richmond. The 12:30 p.m. contest inside the Robins Center will be televised nationally on USA Network. 

Original source can be found here