Jan. 4, 2009

The George Mason men's basketball team will host Georgia State on Monday in a clash of a pair of first-place teams as both the Patriots and Panthers enter the contest with a 2-0 mark in Colonial Athletic Association action. Northeastern is the only other team unbeaten in CAA play. Monday's game will tip-off at 5 p.m. and be televised on FiOS1 and broadcast on WTNT 570.

The Panthers are 2-7 in their past nine games but both those wins have come in CAA action. Georgia State beat UNC Wilmington on the road, 68-46 on December 6. On Saturday, the Panthers took a home win over Old Dominion, 55-54.

The Panthers aren't shooting particularly well this season making less than 41 percent of their shots. They have hit the boards hard and played some strong defense, limiting the opposition to 44 percent shooting and just 65.3 points per game. Joe Dukes leads Georgia State with 13.5 points per game and he is second on the club with 5.1 rebounds. Trae Goldston is averaging 13.0 points per game and has sank 34 3-pointers. The Panthers only have on regular shooting better-than 45 percent from the field and none that are shooting better than 50 percent.

The Patriots are second in the CAA in field-goal percentage defense and third in field-goal percentage offense. Mason is also outrebounding the opposition by more than four per game. The Patriots are 7-2 in their past nine games with an overtime road loss at Liberty and a four-point road loss at UNC Wilmington. Mason is 6-0 at home while Georgia State is 1-4 on the road.

Mason has been led this year by John Vaughan who is averaging 11.9 points per game. Cam Long is averaging 11.2 points and he is second in the CAA in assist-to-turnover ratio. Darryl Monroe is second in the CAA with 8.3 rebounds while shooting better than 59 percent from the field. Louis Birdsong leads the Patriots in blocks and is shooting better than 61 percent from the field. Dre Smith, Ryan Pearson and Andre Cornelius are all averaging better than seven points per game and Pearson is second on the team with 4.7 rebounds per game despite playing just 18.3 minutes per contest.

Mason is 3-1 all-time against Georgia State but the Patriots lost the last meeting, a 66-64 affair in Atlanta last January. The Patriots led by 16 in that game by Leonard Mendez hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the Panthers their first-ever win over the Patriots. Mason is 1-0 all-time at Patriot Center against Georgia State, beating the Panthers 60-54 in their lone trip to Fairfax.

Mason has won 20 of its past 21 home games including eight straight.