Feb. 24, 2006

The George Mason men's basketball team will play at the Patriot Center as a ranked team for the first time in school history on Saturday when the Patriots take on James Madison in a televised game at Noon. Mason is ranked 25th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and tied for first in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Patriots are having one of the best season in school history while their rival, James Madison, is having one of its worst. Mason enters the game 21-6, 14-3 while the Dukes are 5-21, 2-15. Mason will look to make it a season sweep of James Madison and to down the Dukes for the fourth straight game and 11th time in 14 games.

Mason will also be looking to start a new winning streak. The Patriots had their eight-game winning streak snapped against Hofstra, which beat the Patriots 77-67. It's the second-most points allowed by Mason this year and it snapped a string of 23-straight games holding the opposition to fewer than 70 points.

Mason will get a chance to honor its three seniors prior to the game as Lamar Butler, Jai Lewis and Tony Skinn play for the final time before the home crowd. Skinn is fresh off recording the 1,000th point of his George Mason career on Thursday night, making this team only the second in George Mason history with three 1,000 point scorers. Butler needs 20 points to join Lewis with more than 1,400 points.

Butler is also the Patriots' all-time winningest player, having won more game and more CAA games than any other Patriot. He also has the best winning percentage in school history. Lewis, meanwhile, has a shot at matching the school record for games played. He will be appearing in his 118th game. The school record for games played is 122, set by Robert Dykes (1987-91). With postseason play, Lewis could tie or even pass that mark.