Dave Paulsen figured it was time for a history lesson in the locker room at EagleBank Arena after Saturday's 83-73 win against Richmond. The first-year George Mason coach mentioned the 2011 NCAA tournament, which is last time the Patriots earned a bid.

   Mason beat Villanova in its first game and then was eliminated by Ohio State in the next round. The big story of the tournament was Connecticut, which had to win five games in five days to capture the Big East title and secure an automatic NCAA berth in a season where they were not likely to gain an at-large entry. The Huskies then astounded the college basketball world by going on to win the NCAA title.

   “Nobody was even talking about UConn going to the NCAA tournament,” Paulsen said. “Then they win five games in five days.”

  They won six games in the three weeks of the NCAA tournament for the title.  It was a great example of how the seemingly impossible sometimes happens during March Madness.

    It's a good lesson for the Patriots, who are the No.12 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. They meet No.13 Saint Louis, with whom they split during the regular season, on Wednesday. The winner plays No.5 George Washington on Thursday.

   “We've got to have five one-game winning streaks,” Paulsen said about earning the automatic bid.

   UConn made their run on the play of junior Kemba Walker. There's no Kemba Walker in college basketball this season. The Patriots would settle for a healthy Marquise Moore, a junior guard who has been hobbled with ankle problems for the last five weeks.

   “Marquise at 70% is still a very dangerous threat because of his athleticism,” Paulsen said. “Hopefully the ankle gets stronger in the next couple of days.”

   Moore was playing so well in January and February that Paulsen tweaked the offense to allow the 6-2 junior more opportunities to penetrate and score or dish. But the injury that occurred late in the Feb.3 win at Richmond cost Moore the next four games and some of his explosiveness. He re-aggravated the injury March 1 against GW and has shot 9-for-44 in his last five games, though that stretch included a 15-point effort in a 76-69 win against VCU.

   With Moore hobbled, the Patriots have been relying on their inside game and freshman guard Otis Livingston II. In Saturday's win that swept the series against the Spiders, Livingston had 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including 5-for-5 on threes. Shevon Thompson went for 16 points and 17 rebounds; Marko Gujanicic added 15 points and 9 rebounds as the Patriots dominated the boards 55-28 and outscored Richmond 46-30 in the paint.

   “Shevon was a beast inside as well as Marko,” Livingston said, “so that just made the game easier for me to score.”

    The 6-11 Thompson, the leading rebounder in the A-10, is averaging 13.0 points and 11.4 rebounds in the last eight games. “Shevon's got a level of confidence going now,” Paulsen said.

    Junior forward Jalen Jenkins has made a late-season surge, averaging 11.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg in the last eight games.

  “We've done a better job of playing inside-out basketball and taking advantage of our strengths,” Paulsen said. “Hopefully that will help us win one game at a time in Brooklyn.

    “We're still inconsistent. When we're all locked in, then we can be a pretty decent team. We're taking less threes than we ever have, which is good. 'Cause we need to. But you've got to make a few. Otis knocked down five the other night. Jaire (Grayer) has had some good games.”

     In the series against St. Louis, Mason won on the road 92-79 and lost at home in overtime 79-77, shooting 6-for-26 beyond the arc. “They packed in the paint,” Paulsen said. “We've got to keep moving it, driving it, posting it and offensive rebounding it. But you've got to knock down a couple of outside shots, too.”

    After the Richmond victory Saturday, Paulsen and Livingston were sitting next to each other in the post-game interview. Asked his thoughts about the A-10 Championship, Livingston responded: “I'm a very confident person so I think we can win it all.  I don't see why not. We have to take it one game at a time and see where it goes from there.

   “Coach is a great coach.”

   Paulsen turned to Livingston and rolled his eyes, saying, “You think I'm going to forget those three turnovers?” They both laughed.

   Said Livingston, “I'm very confident going into Brooklyn.”