Dec. 11, 2009
The George Mason men's and women's basketball teams will take the court in a doubleheader on Saturday as the men take on Creighton at 1 p.m. with the women taking on Howard at approximately 3:30 p.m. The women will be looking to remain unbeaten at home while the men will look to bounce back after having their 18-game home winning streak snapped on Tuesday. The men's game will be broadcast on WTNT 570.
Creighton is 3-4 on the season and the Missouri Valley Conference power has not won a game away from home this year. The Bluejays played three neutral site games falling to Michigan, Arkansas-Little Rock and Iona and losing on the road at Dayton.
Kenny Lawson Jr. leads Creighton with 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the field and nearly 80 percent from the free throw line. Darryl Ashford is averaging 9.9 points while Ethan Wragge is averaging 9.0 points while shooting 50 percent from 3-point range. Of his 41 shots, 34 have come from behind the arc. Creighton is averaging nearly 72 points per game but only outscoring the opposition by one point per game. They also have a slim rebounding edge of less than a board per game.
The Patriots are 4-5 on the year with a 2-1 mark at home. After winning 18 straight home games, a Division I school record, Mason fell on Tuesday to Dayton, 56-55. The Patriots have faced Creighton at Patriot Center once before, the 2005-06 home opener. The Bluejays beat Mason, 72-52 in that meeting, Mason's lone loss at home the year the Patriots went to the Final Four. Creighton has beaten Mason twice in Omaha to lead the all-time series, 3-0.
Cam Long leads Mason in scoring, assists and steals with 11.8 points, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals. Luke Hancock is averaging 10.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 54 percent from the field. Ryan Pearson is averaging 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds while Andre Cornelius is averaging 9.1 points while shooting 50 percent from 3-point range to lead the Colonial Athletic Association. Mike Morrison is adding 8.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
The women's team will seek a return to the win column in historic fashion when it hosts Howard. The Patriots are seeking a 6-0 start to the season at home for the first time in program history. Mason opened the 2007-08 campaign 5-0 at home, which set the current record.
Mason is coming off a 65-46 loss at Saint Joseph's on Sunday afternoon in which the Patriots led for the first 17 minutes of the game but a 10-2 run by the Hawks to close out the half ultimately snapped the Patriots' four-game win streak. Junior Brittany Poindexter is leading the team and is 11th in the CAA averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting 57.8 percent from the field, fourth in the conference. As a team, Mason is 12th nationally in blocks per game (5.9 bpg), led by freshman Janaa Pickard who has a team-high 16.
Howard is 3-4 on the season and has won back-to-back games, a 44-39 road win at Radford and a 48-47 victory in their conference opener against Hampton. Zykia Brown is the Bison's top scorer averaging 16.3 points per outing, while Saadia Doyle is averaging a double-double, chipping in 13.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. The Bison and the Patriots share one common opponent thus far this season, with both teams defeating Jacksonville.
