Jan. 19, 2007
The George Mason men's basketball team will be looking for its fifth-straight win on Saturday when the Patriots host Northeastern at the Patriot Center at 4 p.m. The game will be telecast on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). All of Mason's wins on the current streak have come against Colonial Athletic Association foes. The Patriots are also looking for the fourth-straight win over Northeastern. The Patriots last lost to the Huskies on Dec. 4, 1993 in Boston.
Mason has been sparked by defense on its current winning streak as the Patriots have held the opposition to 48.2 points per game and allowing them to shoot just .368 from the field. Jordan Carter, the CAA co-Player of the Week has averaged 10.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.3 steals during that stretch while committing just two turnovers from the point guard position. He's also shooting 77.3 percent from the field during the win streak while Will Thomas is shooting 70 percent and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.
During the four-game run, the offense has also turned it up, shooting .484 from the field, 44 percent from 3-point range and scoring 69.2 points per game. Three of the four times Mason has scored 70 or more points this season has been the past three games. Mason has also upped its rebounding margin to nearly five rebounds per game and the assists-to-turnovers is 1.85-1.00.
The Patriots had just four turnovers in its last outing, at William & Mary. That's the lowest team total in the past seven-plus seasons.
The Huskies are led by Bennet Davis who is among the league leaders in a number of categories. He is seventh in scoring (14.9 ppg), fourth in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and third in blocks (2.11 bpg). He's also seventh in minutes played with just under 36 minutes per game.
The Patriots remain among the national leaders in several defensive categories. Mason entered the week 12th in the nation in scoring defense (56.6 ppg), 39th in field-goal percentage defense (.400) and sixth in personal fouls per game (14.3).
The Patriots have scored a season-high 39 first-half points in each of their past two games. Mason leads the CAA in home attendance with 6,422 fans per game.
