Nov. 16, 2007
The George Mason men's basketball team will host the Dayton Flyers on Saturday night as both teams look to remain perfect on the young season. The Patriots have won their first two games beating Vermont and Cleveland State while Dayton won its opener against East Tennessee State.
The Patriots and Flyers meet for the first time in school history with the Patriots searching for their first 3-0 start since 1980-81. The Patriots are also looking for their third winning streak of three or more games since advancing to the Final Four in 2006. Last year, Mason had a five-game winning streak during the season and a three-game winning streak in the CAA Tournament.
Dayton was picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 this season, but the Flyers received a pair of first-place votes in the preseason poll. Senior guard Brian Roberts is a two-time All-Atlantic 10 selection and he is third all-time in the A-10 in 3-point field-goal percentage. He has shot better than 40 percent in all three of his years and he has is shooting 43.4 percent for his career. His career scoring average is 14.3 and over the past two years, he has averaged more than 16.0 ppg. He scored 31 points in the season opener, a home win over East Tennessee State.
Mason was picked first in the Colonial Athletic Association with Will Thomas being named second-team preseason All-CAA and Folarin Campbell being named third-team preseason All-CAA. Thus far this year, Thomas and John Vaughan have each reached double figures in both of Mason's contests.
While Mason has won using defense, the Flyers won their opener behind offense as they shot 47.4 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from 3-point range. Two years ago, the Patriots set a school record for scoring defense, allowing jut 60.1 points per game. Last year, Mason toppled that mark, allowing just 59.1 points per game. This season, it looks like Mason has picked up where it left off, holding Vermont to just 53 points and Cleveland State to 47. Over the past two-plus seasons, Mason has played 70 games and on 33 occasions, the Patriots have held the opponent to fewer than 60 points.
Last season, Mason held the opposition to 41.1 percent shooting from the field. In 2005-06 the Patriots limited the opponent to 38.8 percent shooting from the field. In the season's first two contests, Mason has held the opposition to 34.5 percent shooting. Dayton, meanwhile, allowed the opposition to shoot 43.3 percent from the field last year and 45 percent in the season opener.
Saturday's game is "Coach L's World Ball Night." Coach Jim Larranaga has teamed up with My Wonderful World, the National Geographic-led geography awareness campaign as part of celebrating Geography Awareness Week. GeoEye, a local company and a premier provider of satellite/aerial imagery and geospatial information, is a joint sponsor for the game.
This fun family event will feature an exciting half-time program showcasing local students, the world's largest map of Asia and world basketballs. Students will have a chance to win a world basketball and other prizes such as maps, t-shirts and globe beach balls. Alan Merten, George Mason University president, Allen Carroll, National Geographic's chief cartographer, and Allan Falconer, chair of George Mason's geography department, will attend.
