Dec. 20, 2005
The George Mason men's basketball has had 10 days off since its last game, an 81-69 win over Radford, and the Patriots are ready to return to action, as Mason will host Hampton University on Wednesday night with action at the Patriot Center getting underway at 7 p.m. The Patriots are 5-3 on the year and looking for their fifth win in six games. Hampton is currently 1-5.
Since falling at home on November 22nd to Creighton, the Patriots have won four of five games and the one loss came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at Old Dominion. Mason has played excellent basketball over those five games, on both sides of the ball. The Patriots are shooting .523 from the field while holding the opposition to a .333 shooting percentage. The Patriots are averaging 72.4 points per game while limiting the opposition to 55.0 points per game. And Mason has handed out 87 assists to 67 turnovers during that stretch, while swiping 39 steals.
Lamar Butler has come on strong during the past five games after starting the season with a scoring average of 8.7 points per game. By scoring 16.8 points during the recent stretch, he has raised his average to 14.1 per game. He is shooting .566 from the field since Thanksgiving and .500 from 3-point range. Jai Lewis has done a bit better, making 60 percent of his shots, and 54.5 percent from 3-point range. During the current stretch, Lewis is averaging 14.4 points per game and 7.4 rebounds.
Hampton has three players who will play their first game of the season on Wednesday night. To date, the Pirates have been getting the majority of their scoring production from Rodrick Coleman and Bruce Brown. Coleman is averaging 16.0 points per game but shooting .389 from the field. Brown is averaging 13.3 points per game and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game whie shooting .557 from the field.
Hampton has struggled shooting the ball this year, shooting .350 from the field. The Pirates have twice been held to fewer than 45 points, in a 44-40 loss at Richmond and a 57-43 loss to Norfolk State. Hampton has also lost to William & Mary, 70-60, UNC-Greensboro, 75-72, and Yale, 71-52. The lone victory was a 73-69 win over Radford.
The two teams have faced each other once with Mason coming away with an 84-74 win on December 28, 1995. Kenwan Alford scored 23 points in that game while George Redd grabbed 13 rebounds.
