Jan. 4, 2008
The George Mason men's basketball team will play its first home game of the 2008 calendar year on Saturday afternoon when the Patriots (9-4, 1-1) host Towson (5-7, 1-1) at 4:30 p.m. at Patriot Center. With a win, Mason could become the first CAA school to record 10 overall wins this season. James Madison, which plays Hofstra earlier in the day on Saturday, also enters the weekend with nine wins on the year.
The Patriots are 10-0 against Towson in CAA play and 22-8 all-time against the Tigers. Towson last beat Mason on January 6, 1993, a 78-71 win at Towson. Mason will start two seniors (Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas), two juniors (Dre Smith and John Vaughan) and a sophomore (Louis Birdsong) against Towson and the four upperclassmen all have milestones looming ahead of them.
Campbell needs 27 points, nine rebounds and one block to become the first player in Mason history with 1,200 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists, 100 3-pointers, 100 steals and 50 blocks. Thomas is the only player in Mason history with 1,200 points, 750 rebounds, 150 assists and a shooting percentage of better than 60 percent. He needs 39 rebounds to reach 800 for his career. Vaughan has 95 3-pointers in his career, 10th all-time at Mason. His next 3-pointer will allow him to tie Amp Davis for ninth all-time. Smith has 83 3-pointers all-time in 45 games at Mason. He is 15th all-time. He can tie Steve Smith for 14th with three against Towson. He is fourth all-time at Mason in 3-pointers per contest with 1.84 per game (minimum 80 3-pointers). Smith needs 12 points againsst Towson to increase his scoring average to double figures, where he would join Campbell, Vaughan and Thomas.
Mason got off to a poor start shooting from long range this season, making just 10 of its first 55 from 3-point range. Over the past 10 games, Mason is shooting 41.4 percent from beyond the arc and in the past four contests, the shooting percentage from 3-point range is 49.2 percent. This year's Mason squad is averaging 6.3 3-pointers per game. Only the 1998-98, 2003-04 and 2004-05 Larranaga-coached Mason teams made more 3-pointers per game than this year's squad.
Towson enters the contest with two players averaging double figures scoring on the season. Junior Hairston, the CAA's leading rebounder at 11.8 per game is averaging 13.6 points per contest. Rodney Spruill is averaging 12.3 points per game but he is currently suspended from the team to focus on his academic performance. He is eligible by NCAA standards and he could return at any time, including Saturday. The Tigers are shooting just 39.8 percent from the field and just 26.7 percent from 3-point range. Only two players have 10 or more 3-pointers and none have more than 15.
Saturday's game will be Youth League Jersey Game with youth admitted free with a team jersey on (limit five youth per one paid adult). There will also be a Patriot Center/RCN Cap Giveaway and Washington Post Free Throws and United Bank Autographs with Jordan Carter after the game.
