Feb. 12, 2010
The George Mason men's basketball team will travel to Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon in a critical late-season Colonial Athletic Association battle. Both the Patriots and Monarchs are in second place in the CAA, one game behind leader Northeastern. Mason won the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 2. Saturday's game, which tips at 4 p.m. in Norfolk will be televised on Comcast SportsNet and broadcast on WTNT 570 AM.
Mason beat ODU 71-55 in the early-season meeting. Gerald Lee had 17 points for the Monarchs but he was held to just three rebounds and no other ODU player managed double figures. Over the first 13 games, no ODU opponent had reached 70 points but Mason accomplished that feat by shooting 52.8 percent from the field, including a combined 32 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists from Mike Morrison and Ryan Pearson. Since then, four other teams have reached 70 against ODU but the Monarchs stand third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 55.2 points per game.
Lee, a preseason pick for CAA Co-Player of the Year, is averaging 13.9 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 52.7 percent from the field. He is the only ODU player averaging double figures but five are averaging 7.0 points per game or better. Frank Hassel is shooting 54.5 percent from the field and leads ODU in rebounding at 6.2 per game. Ben Finney is averaging 9.1 points and 6.0 rebounds. The Monarchs lead the CAA in rebounding margin with a +8.5 mark. Mason is 11th in the conference in that category, being outrebounded by 1.9 points per game. However, in the first meeting between the teams, Mason had a 36-30 advantage on the boards.
The Patriots have two players averaging in double figures with Cam Long at 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists and Ryan Pearson at 12.1 points and 6.7 rebounds. Pearson is top 10 in the CAA in rebounding and field-goal percentage, making 43.9 percent of his shots. Andre Cornelius is tied for third in the CAA in 3-point field-goal percentage shooting 42.4 percent from behind the arc. While Long has been a much better player in CAA action this season, averaging 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists in those 14 games, Mike Morrison has been the catalyst of late for the Patriots. In the past two games, he's averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and is shooting better than 60 percent from the field.
Old Dominion is 12-0 at home this season and Mason has not won at Old Dominion since 2004, when the Patriots took a 70-66 victory. The past four games in Norfolk have been tight games, though, with ODU winning those four by a total of 13 points. The Patriots are 4-6 on the road this year but 4-3 in CAA play.
Currently, Old Dominion is top four in the CAA in scoring defense, scoring margin, field-goal percentage, field-goal percentage defense, 3-point field-goal percentage defense, offensive and defensive rebounding, rebounding margin, assists, steals, turnover margin and assists/turnover ratio. The Patriots are top four in one category, 3-point field-goal percentage.
