WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Eaglebank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (0-0), Lafayette (0-0)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 1-0
LAST MEETING: Mason def. Lafayette, 99-83, on Dec. 29, 1993
LIVE VIDEO: A-10 Digital Network
LIVE AUDIO: A-10 Digital Network
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)
TICKETS: Click here

GIVEAWAY: Marquise Moore bobblehead for season ticket holders, mini-plan holders and Mason students with valid ID
GOLD RUSH: Don't miss the Gold Rush before this Friday's game! Gold Rush is bigger and better than ever! Join us for games, food trucks, and the beer and wine tent. 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Lot K.
STUDENTS: Mason students with your valid Mason ID you can get a free t-shirt (at the Gold Rush) and tickets to the basketball game.

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team opens its 2017-18 season Friday night with a contest vs. Patriot League foe Lafayette College.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Leopards is set for 7 p.m. inside EagleBank Arena. The game will be broadcast live on the A-10 Network, featuring commentary from "Voice of the Patriots" Bill Rohland. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:45 p.m.

Fans are strongly encouraged to be in their seats by 6:50 p.m. to enjoy the debut of our enhanced pregame experience in EagleBank Arena. The arena will feature a brand new center-hung videoboard, as well as improved lighting throughout the building.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots are 29-22 (.569) all time in season openers. Mason is 18-7 at home, 7-10 on the road and 4-5 in neutral site debuts.

• The Patriots will play eight of their 13 non-conference games at EagleBank Arena, marking the most non-league home contests for the program since 1983-84.

• Mason returns three starters from a 2016-17 team that recorded the 13th 20-win season in program annals. Mason went 20-14 on the year.

• The Green & Gold set a new program record with nine A-10 wins in 2016-17 (previous record was 5). After winning 11 games total and five A-10 contests in 2015-16, Mason ranked as one of the nation's 20 most improved teams last season.

• Mason set a new program record for rebounds in a season in 2016-17 with 1,370. The Patriots were 13th in the nation in defensive rebounding last season, despite ranking 328th out of 351 Div. I teams in average height. Mason will look to replicate that prowess in 2017-18 with similar small lineups likely to be featured.

• In each of Dave Paulsen's last six seasons as a head coach (Mason & Bucknell), his teams have finished in the top-20 nationally in defensive rebounding (top-2 in four seasons).

• Junior guard Otis Livingston II earned a spot on the 2017 preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team.

• Mason's returning trio of Livingston II, junior Jaire Grayer and sophomore Justin Kier combined to start 96 of a possible 101 games last season. Livingston II  started all 34 games in 2016-17.

• The Patriots ranked 297th in the nation in Ken Pomeroy's "experience" stat last season, after featuring five freshmen, two sophomores and two seniors for most of the season. Mason will feature a similarly young team this season, with no scholarship seniors on its roster (2 juniors, 3 sophomores, 3 freshmen).

• Mason is without a scholarship senior for the first time since 2004-05. As such, Paulsen has been quoted as saying this is essentially a "two-year season," as the Patriots will not graduate any players heading into 2018-19.

• In a survey conducted by NCAA Div. I sports information directors, Mason was listed as one of just nine programs nationally that returns four or fewer letter winners from the 2016-17 campaign.

• Mason welcomes three talented scholarship freshmen to the roster this season. Greg Calixte (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) and Goanar Mar (Mankato, Minn./DeLaSalle) each were part of state championship teams in high school, while Javon Greene (McDonough, Ga./Henry County) led his team to the Georgia AAAA Final Four in 2017.

• Mason's opening two weeks will prove to be one of the busiest fortnights in school history. The Green & Gold will play six games in 12 days, including back-to-back contests as part of the Cancun Challenge in Mexico.

HISTORY vs. LAFAYETTE
Friday's game marks just the second all-time contest between George Mason and Lafayette in men's basketball. In the only other previous meeting, the Patriots knocked off the Leopards 99-83 on Dec. 29, 1993, as part of the Iona Classic in New Rochelle, N.Y.

HISTORY vs. PATRIOT LEAGUE OPPONENTS
Mason is 65-32 all time against teams currently in the Patriot League. The Patriots' most common opponents are American (31-10), Navy (14-9) and Loyola (14-9). The Green & Gold have posted a 7-4 record against head coach Dave Paulsen's former team - Bucknell. In the most recent matchup with a Patriot League foe, Mason faced off with Loyola (Md.) in the College Basketball Invitational on March 15, 2017.

A LOOK AT THE LEOPARDS (2016-17: 9-21, 5-13 PATRIOT LEAGUE)
Lafayette was picked 10th in the 2017-18 Patriot League preseason poll. The Leopards return seven of their top eight scorers from the 2016-17 season and nine of 12 letter winners overall heading into the 2017-18 campaign. The Leopards  - who hail from Easton, Pa. - tallied a 9-21 record and a 5-13 mark in Patriot League play last season. The team will be led by senior and 2017 All-Patriot League Third Team selection Matt Klinewski, who averaged 16.0 points and shot 51.3 percent from the floor last season.

PAULSEN vs. O'HANLON
Mason head coach Dave Paulsen and Lafayette bench boss Fran O'Hanlon faced each other 18 times in the Patriot League, with Paulsen's Bucknell teams winning 12 times. They met in the Patriot League Championship twice, with the Bison prevailing as champions on each occasion.

JUNIOR LEADERSHIP
For the first time in 13 seasons, the Patriot roster this year will feature 0 scholarship seniors. The last time Mason fielded a team without a scholarship senior was the 2004-05 campaign, when the Patriots featured a talented junior class of Lamar Butler, Jai Lewis and Tony Skinn. That trio would lead Mason to the NCAA Final Four the following season in 2005-06. This season, the Green & Gold will be lead by a strong junior duo of Jaire Grayer and Otis Livingston II. Livingston II has started all 66 games in his Mason career, while Grayer has started 64 of 66.

PATRIOTS GAIN VALUABLE EXPERIENCE IN KENNER LEAGUE
George Mason student-athletes Otis Livingston II, Jaire Grayer, AJ Wilson and Goanar Mar took part in the annual Kenner League at Georgetown University over the summer to work on their skill sets and gain valuable competitive experience heading into 2017-18. The league features a number of college and professional players from around the DMV area. Livingston II and Wilson were two of seven players to earn all-league accolades, along with Anthony Cowan (Maryland), Kaleb Johnson (Georgetown), Drew Washington (Delaware) and Tre' Kelley (South Carolina/Turkey) among others.

PATRIOTS LOOK TO REBOUND FROM LOSS OF MOORE (LITERALLY)
Last season, senior Marquise Moore put together arguably the best rebounding season by a guard in modern NCAA history. He set Mason's single season rebounding record (367), tied the NCAA Div. I record for double-doubles by a guard and ranked as the top rebounding guard in the country (10.9 rpg, 8th amongst all players nationally). His prowess helped Mason finish  13th in the nation in defensive rebounding. This season, the Patriots will look to strong rebounding guards Jaire Grayer (5.4 rpg), Justin Kier (4.5 rpg) and Ian Boyd in an increased role (2.5 rpg) to make up for Moore's production by committee.

UP NEXT
Mason hits the road for a marquee non-conference matchup with No. 16 Louisville on Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center. The game will be televised in ACC media markets across the country through the RSN platform. The game also is listed on the WatchESPN app and is available on ESPN streaming platforms (subject to blackout). In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game live on the A-10 Digital Network, with coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m.

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