Jan. 23, 2007
The George Mason men's basketball team faces a huge challenge on Wednesday night when the Patriots put their five-game winning streak on the line against one of the hottest teams in the country, Virginia Commonwealth.
The Rams have won 14 of 15 and they are a 8-0 in Colonial Athletic Association play. They lead the CAA in scoring offense, are top three in the conference in field-goal percentage, field-goal percentage defense, rebounding margin assist-to-turnover ratio and have a shot at tying or breaking Mason's record for CAA wins in a season, 15. With a win on Wednesday, they would set a record for best start in CAA play.
A few weeks ago, Wednesday's game, a 7 p.m. tip at the Patriot Center, looked like it might be quite a mismatch. The Patriots started conference play 0-3, something which hadn't happened in more than 10 years. That matched Mason's CAA loss total from last season. Since then, Mason has rolled off five straight wins by an average score of 71-49. The Patriots are shooting nearly 50 percent from the field, better than 44 percent from 3-point range and are turning the ball over infrequently. They combined for just 10 turnovers in the past two games, believed to be a school record for fewest turnovers in back-to-back contests.
All of Mason's lofty stats from the five-game stretch will be tested, though, against a team that has the longest current road winning streak in the country. The Rams have won eight straight away from home, a streak dating back to last season. On the year, VCU is 7-0 on the road.
Virginia Commonwealth is scoring 75.6 points per game while holding teams to 63.3 ppg, a scoring margin of 12.3. The Rams are shooting 45 percent from the field, including nearly 38 percent from 3-point range, while holding teams to 42.4 percent shooting. The Rams are outrebounding the opposition by 2.5 per game and have a turnover margin of +6, almost triple that of the conference's second-place team, Old Dominion, which is at +2.21. The Rams are 12th in the nation in turnovers per game and 28th in scoring margin.
Like Mason last year, a trio of players are leading the charge for the Rams. For this year's VCU team, its three guards, seniora B.A. Walker and Jesse Pellot-Rosa, and sophomore Eric Maynor. Walker leads the team with 15.0 points per game, Maynor is scoring 14.5 points while handing out 5.8 assists and Pellot-Rosa is scoring 14.4 points per contest to go with 5.1 rebounds. Maynor is 17th in the country with 5.8 assists per game while Walker is 84th in 3-point field-goal percentage, shooting 38.4 percent from behind the arc.
Mason has just two players scoring better than 14.0 ppg, but during the win streak, four players are scoring in double figures. Will Thomas is shooting 75.6 percent from the field during those five games and he has become Mason's all-time career leader in field-goal percentage, improving his career shooting percentage to .607. He is shooting .655 for the year, a single-season school record if it holds up. His 10 of 11 performance the last time out is tied for third-best in school history. He is putting in 14.4 points per game during the win streak to go with 6.2 rebounds per game.
The other Mason players scoring in double figures during the win streak are Folarin Campbell, who is scoring 12.4 points with 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assist, John Vaughan, who is adding 11.2 points off the bench, and Jordan Carter, who is shooting 73.1 percent from the field for 10.0 points per game. Carter also has 26 assists and just two turnovers during Mason's hot streak as well as 2.2 steals per game.
While Mason is shooting 44.3 percent from behind the arc during the winning streak, that number is skewed downward because of poor shooting during the closing minutes when the starters and top reserves are on the bench. The top six players in terms of minutes per game during the past two weeks are shooting a combined 49 percent from 3-point range.
Wednesday's contest will be televised on Comcast SportsNet and broadcast on Triple X Radio. Fans are reminded that with class in session, they should allow extra time to find adequate parking.
