Jan. 14, 2006

The George Mason men's basketball team takes the court on Saturday night having won four straight games and 10 of 12 contests. Mason is unbeaten in the 2006 calendar year. The Patriots are 28-48 all-time against James Madison but the numbers are in Mason's favor over the past seven years.

The Patriots are 11-4 against the Dukes in the past 15 meetings and Jim Larranaga is 11-6 all-time against James Madison as Mason head coach. With Larranaga as head coach, Mason is 4-4 in Harrisonburg. The Patriots have won three of the past four games between the teams.

The Patriots are looking for their first five game winning streak since the 2003-04 season, when Mason downed Delaware, UNC Wilmington and Old Dominion to close the regular season and then Delaware and UNC Wilmington in the CAA Tournament.

The Patriots continue to lead the conference in field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense and scoring margin. Mason is off to its second-best 15-game start, tying the 2003-04 team that also was 11-4. In 1983-84, Mason began the year 13-2. The 2003-04 team began 12-4 with the 12th win coming against James Madison. Mason then dropped a pair of road games to go to 12-6. The 1983-84 team was handed its fourth loss in its 19th game after a 15-3 start and dropped its fifth games after an 18-4 start.

Sophomores Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell have raised their level of play over the past five games. Thomas is averaging 12.8 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting .625 from the field and .636 from the free throw line. He also has 10 assists, four blocks and four steals over that stretch. Campbell is averaging a team-high 13.6 points during those five games with 5.6 rebounds, 3.0 steals and a .524 shooting percentage. He's also making 46 percent of his 3-pointers and 86 percent of his free throws.