Feb. 15, 2010
The George Mason men's basketball team will host William & Mary on Tuesday night as the Patriots look to remain among the top three in the Colonial Athletic Association. At 11-4 in the conference, Mason is all alone in third, one game behind Old Dominion and Northeastern. The Tribe, at 10-5, is tied with Drexel as the teams are chasing the Patriots. The teams will tip at Patriot Center at 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on MASN and broadcast on WTNT 570 AM.
Mason (16-10, 11-4) and William & Mary (18-7, 10-5) will meet just this one time in the 2009-2010 regular season. Mason has won 18 straight home games against CAA opposition, a school record and the longest such active streak in the conference. William & Mary last won at Patriot Center on January 3, 2007, a 67-63 victory for the Tribe.
Earlier this season, it looked like the Tribe might be the team to beat in the CAA. A 10-game winning streak with wins at Maryland and Wake Forest and home wins against Richmond and VCU pushed William & Mary to second in the RPI. But after finding itself at 14-3 on the season, the Tribe proceeded to lose three straight, at VCU, home to ODU and at James Madison. The Tribe has found its stride of late, winning four of five, including home wins over Drexel and Northeastern. The lone loss was at Old Dominion.
David Schneider and Quinn McDowell have been the catalysts with Schneider scoring 15.6 points and grabbing 6.1 rebounds and McDowell scoring 14.3 points and shooting 42.6 percent from 3-point range. As a team, 38.6 percent of its baskets have come from 3-point range with 47 of its attempts from behind the arc. William & Mary has also excelled at the free throw line, making 72 percent from the stripe. That has helped make up for a rebounding deficit.
Mason has also struggled on the boards this year and they will be at an even bigger disadvantage on Tuesday with starter Mike Morrison out after receiving two technical fouls against Old Dominion on Saturday. According to CAA rules, Morrison will have to miss this contest. The starter is averaging 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds while blocking 1.5 shots per game and shooting 53.9 percent from the field. The Patriots top three scorers are Cam Long (13.2 ppg), Ryan Pearson (11.8 ppg) and Andre Cornelius (8.8 ppg). Long also leads the Patriots in assists and steals, Pearson is top 10 in the CAA in rebounding and field-goal percentage and Cornelius is second in the CAA in 3-point shooting percentage.
