WHEN: Sunday, 2 p.m.
WHERE: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Ky.
RECORDS: Mason (1-0), No. 16 Louisville (0-0)
SERIES RECORD: Louisville leads, 3-0
LAST MEETING: Louisville def. Mason, 132-87
TELEVISION: ACC Regional Sports Networks
WATCHESPN: Click Here
LIVE AUDIO: A-10 Digital Network
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

RSN AFFILIATES: FOX Sports South, FOX Sports Florida, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, YES, NBC Sports Washington, NESN Plus, AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh, FOX Sports Ohio, FOX Sports North, FOX Sports Wisconsin, FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Arizona, FOX Sports San Diego, FOX Sports Prime Ticket, AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mtn, AT&T Sportsnet Las Vegas, Root Sports Northwest

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (1-0) plays its second game of college basketball's opening weekend on Sunday when the Patriots battle No. 16/16 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Cardinals is set for 2 p.m. Sunday's game will be televised live on the ACC's regional sports networks in media markets across the nation (locally on NBC Sports Washington). In addition, the game is on the WatchESPN app and is available on ESPN streaming platforms (subject to blackout). Tom Werme will provide play-by-play, while Mike Gminski will handle color commentary. Bill Rohland will call the game on the A-10 Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots opened the 2017-18 campaign with a 67-65 home victory over Lafayette on Friday.

• The victory improved the Patriots to 30-22 (.577) all time in season openers.

• All five starters scored in double figures, led by Jaire Grayer, who notched team highs in points (17), rebounds (9) and blocks (3). Justin Kier added career bests in points (15) and steals (4).

• Goanar Mar tallied 11 points (3-4 3pt FG) in his Mason debut. He's the first Mason freshman to post 10+ points in his first game since former Patriot/Louisville Cardinal Luke Hancock notched 11 points against Liberty on Nov. 13, 2009.

HISTORY vs. LOUISVILLE
Sunday's game marks the fourth all-time meeting between the Patriots and the Cardinals. Louisville holds a 3-0 edge in the series, with all three contests held in the early 1990s. The first two games made up a home-and-home series during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons, while Mason was led by head coach Ernie Nestor. The final meeting on Jan. 4, 1993, came during Paul Westhead's first season, with the Cardinals claiming a 132-87 victory in Freedom Hall. In an interesting parallel to this season, Mason played both Lafayette and Louisville within a week of each other in 1993-94.

HISTORY vs. ACC OPPONENTS
Mason is 4-22 all time against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Mason's most common opponents are Virginia (1-8), Louisville (0-3) and Duke (0-3). In the most recent matchup with an ACC foe, Mason fell to No. 6 Virginia, 83-66, in the championship game of the Charleston Classic (11/22/15) during Dave Paulsen's first season leading the Patriots. Mason defeated the Cavaliers 63-59 to open the 2012-13 season in front of a sold-out EagleBank Arena crowd of 9,840. But perhaps the Patriots' most memorable victory over an ACC team came in 2006, when Mason knocked off No. 3 seed North Carolina in the NCAA second round during the program's iconic run to the Final Four.

A LOOK AT THE No. 16/16 CARDINALS (2016-17: 25-9, 12-6 ACC)
Louisville - picked fifth in the ACC preseason poll - returns the majority of its roster from a 2016-17 squad that posted a 25-9 record, including a 12-6 mark in the ACC. The Cardinals reached the NCAA Round of 32, falling to Michigan 73-69. Louisville also welcomes a star-studded recruiting class ranked No. 6 in the nation by ESPN and No. 8 by Rivals.com. One of the most storied programs in the nation, Louisville has made 11 of the past 12 NCAA Tournaments and has earned four Sweet 16 berths in the last five seasons. The Cardinals reached the national final in 2012 and won the national championship in 2013. The Cardinals will be led by a pair of preseason All-ACC players in senior guard Quentin Snider (12.4 ppg, 4.1 apg) and junior forward Deng Adel (12.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg). Adel was named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List, an award given annually to the top small forward in the nation.

LAST TIME MASON PLAYED A RANKED TEAM
The Patriots did not play a team ranked in either the AP Poll or USA Today Coaches Poll in 2016-17. Mason played a pair of ranked foes in 2015-16 during Dave Paulsen's first season in Fairfax. Mason fell to No. 6 Virginia in the championship game of the Charleston Classic (Nov. 22) and dropped a home contest to No. 24 Dayton on Feb. 6, 2016.

PLAYING UP TO THE POWER 5
The Patriots will play three non-conference games against Power 5 opponents in 2017-18, with matchups at Louisville (Nov. 12), at Auburn (Dec. 3) and at home vs. Penn State (Dec. 17). Mason has not played three Power 5 teams outside of neutral court preseason tournaments since the 1996-97 campaign, when the Green & Gold hosted Virginia and Colorado and played at Ohio State. In 2015-16, Mason played Ole Miss (W), Oklahoma State (W) and Virginia (L), but all three games were part of the 2015 Charleston Classic.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Patriots finished 2016-17 with a 7-5 road record and won six of their first seven road games for the first time in program history. The seven road wins tied the Patriots for most in the Atlantic 10 and marked the highest total for a Mason team since 2012-13. By comparison, the Patriots were just 2-11 on the road in 2015-16.

UP NEXT
Mason returns to a Fairfax for a two-game homestand to host the opening round games of the 2017 Cancun Challenge. The Patriots take on America East foe Binghamton on Thursday (Nov. 16) at 7 p.m. before battling Cal State Northridge on Saturday (Nov. 18) at 6 p.m.