Oct. 30, 2003
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team's Opening Night of the 2003-04 regular season is Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Patriot Center against Morehead State. The contest against the Eagles is the first of 13 regular season home games slated for the Patriot Center this year.
Individual tickets for Opening Night and for the season are available now by calling TicketMaster at 202-432-SEAT (7328) or by stopping by the Patriot Center Ticket Office. Season and group tickets are also available at the Ticket Office or by calling 703-993-3270. A Family Five Pack for the opening night contest against MSU is only $20.
Morehead State, which will also start its regular season Nov. 21, finished last year with a 20-9 overall record, its best mark since its NCAA tournament team of 1983-84. The season also marked only the second time in school history that the Eagles reached the 20-win plateau. MSU returns three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team, including senior forward/guard Ricky Minard, who was named the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Player of the Year in 2002-03. He was also first-team All-OVC, National Association of Basketball Coaches all-district and an honorable mention all-America. Minard averaged 22.5 points per game, ranking 12th nationally in scoring.
Morehead State tied for the OVC Championship (13-3 OVC) and was the No. 2 seed in its league tournament. MSU, which led the nation in field goal percentage at 51.0 last season, also led the country in free throw percentage in 2001-02. In addition to the field goal shooting title, the Eagles also ranked seventh in scoring offense (73.4) and ninth in three-point field goal percentage (39.4) in 2002-03.
George Mason also returns three starters and seven lettermen from last season's 16-12 squad. The Patriots finished in fourth place in the Colonial Athletic Association regular season with an 11-7 mark. Senior guard/forward Mark Davis (Springfield, VA/R.E. Lee/Palm Beach CC), a preseason first-team All-CAA selection by both the league's 10 head coaches and the media and a preseason Mid-Major all-America honoree by CollegeInsider.com, returns along with senior guard Raoul Heinen (Bunschoten Holland) and senior guard/forward Richard Tynes (Washington, DC/Hargrave [VA] Military Academy). Davis, a second-team All-CAA pick a year ago, led Mason last year in scoring (15.5 ppg), steals (54) and three-pointers made (50). As a team last season, the Patriots set a school record for scoring defense (60.5 ppg), ranking 15th nationally.
The Patriots enter the year as the preseason favorite to win the conference in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches as well as the media. Mason grabbed seven of 10 first-place votes in the coaches' poll for a total of 79 points, and earned nine first-place votes for 169 points in the media poll. The Patriots are ranked 13th in the Preseason Mid-Major Top 25 poll recently released by CollegeInsider.com.
George Mason's lone home exhibition game of the year will take place Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. against the One On One All-Stars.
