The last time a George Mason men's basketball team won five games in a row occurred multiple times during the 2011-12 season. None of the current Mason players was even in college then.

  After four consecutive losing seasons, it was nice to post a fifth consecutive win Saturday, 79-68 against Mercer at EagleBank Arena. The Patriots (6-3), who play on the road Wednesday at Penn State and Saturday at Penn, are happy but not giddy.

  "I won't be satisfied until we finish the non-conference 10-3," said sophomore guard Otis Livingston II. "I think we have the ability to do it. We play some tough teams; we can't take anyone lightly. Every game is going to be tough. If we finish out really strong, then I'll be kind of satisfied with our non-conference schedule.

   "I'm really happy. We're playing some great basketball. We're moving the ball. Marquise (Moore) is playing great.  Everyone is playing better."

   The win streak against Kent State (79-75), Bradley (77-66), James Madison (80-77 OT), Northern Iowa (54-50) and Mercer has featured an ever-changing support crew. Freshman Ian Boyd came off the bench for 13 points, freshman Karmari Newman hit three threes and senior Jalen Jenkins added 10 points and seven rebounds against JMU; Sophomore Jaire Grayer had 14 points and freshman Justin Kier hit six late-game foul shots at Northern Iowa.

   But the Patriots have been led all year by their dynamic backcourt of sophomore point guard, Otis Livingston II, hardly recruited out of high school, and senior Marquise Moore, who may take fewer threes than any shooting guard in the country.

   They work well together.  During the win streak Moore is averaging 18.0 points on 44.9% shooting and an eye-popping 12.4 rebounds. The 6-2, 208-pounder not only leads the team in rebounding (10.0), he's the nation's top rebounding guard.

   His simple philosophy: "Rebounding is really 90-95% effort. I'm just going after the ball offensively, defensively. That's about it."

  He's attempted just three three-pointers all season, hitting none, but he consistently penetrates to finish difficult drives or dish to teammates like Livingston, who has averaged 16.2 ppg during the streak along with 3.8 assists and is shooting 36% from three-point range for the season.

 With Moore collecting rebounds like a 6-10 post, the Patriots' typical alignment of four perimeter players with one post has not been a liability save for the opening loss to Towson when Moore had no rebounds and Towson controlled the glass.

   "The key for us to be able to play small like that is to be able to rebound," Paulsen said. "After the first game where we got hurt by Towson quite a bit, we've done a real good job on the glass. 'Quise has been the anchor for that. All our guys are doing a better job of boxing out. He's a guy who can go up and get it.

   "He's really embracing his role. He attacks the rim. He's guarding the opponent's best perimeter player. He's stepping up to the line making free throws. He's doing a good job. It's getting there."

  For the season, Moore is averaging 36.1 minutes and Livingston 35.2, which could be tough to sustain.

   "We've been blending and balancing minutes across the board," said Paulsen, referring to the 3, 4 and 5 positions. "Not so much with these guys (Livington, Moore). Try to steal them a minute or two here or there. These are the guys that we play through.

   "They give us some versatility defensively as well. They've been good. I'm not going to say anything more nice about them until the season is over because we've got to make sure to keep them on edge. They've done a really good job of leading our group."

   On Monday, as practice ended, Paulsen called Moore and Livingston over to view on computer two highlight plays in the Mercer win. One started with Moore grabbing a defensive rebound, leading the break and passing to the middle to Livingston, who delivered a bounce pass back to Moore for a layup.

   The other sequence came with Moore penetrating and finding an open Livingston, who drilled a three.

   "Two really unselfish plays," Paulsen said. "We're starting to trust each other a little more, trust the system a little more."

    The Patriots entered the game shooting 25.6% from beyond the arc. They finished 8-for-17, 47.1%, against Mercer. They put into play what Paulsen emphasizes with most of the threes coming off dishes from penetration, post-ups or ball reversals.

      "We forced a team out of a zone, which is like groundbreaking," Paulsen said. "We turned ball over just five times and fouled only 11 times. Those are good numbers."

    "We're starting to approach practice with a more workman-like attitude. We're definitely getting better. We've still got a long way to go."