WHEN: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
WHERE: Auburn Arena - Auburn, Ala.
RECORDS: Mason (4-3), Auburn (5-1)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
VIDEO: SEC Network+/WatchESPN (Click here)
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (4-3) wraps up a two-game road trip with a Sunday matinee at Southeastern Conference foe Auburn.

Tip-off between the Tigers and Patriots is set for 3 p.m. Eastern Time (2 p.m. Central). Sunday's game will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network +. The stream is available through the WatchESPN app. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the A-10 Digital Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 2:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The game versus the Tigers is the final game of four straight for the Patriots away from home. Mason dropped the first two games of the trip in Cancun to Louisiana Tech & Fresno State before rebounding with a 76-72 win at former CAA rival James Madison Wednesday.

• In the game vs. the Dukes, Mason erased a 4-point deficit with 7.1 seconds to play, due to a timely 3-pointer, clutch free throw shooting and key fouls drawn by the Patriots in the final moments. At the 8-second mark, KenPom.com gave Mason a win probability of one percent.

• The Patriots posted season highs in field goal percentage (.491) and 3-point field goal percentage (.563) against the Dukes. Mason is 4-1 when the team shoots 40 percent or better this season.

• Mason is now 1-1 on the road after posting a solid 7-5 road record a year ago.

• After Sunday's game vs. Auburn, Mason will wrap up non-conference play with five-straight home games.

• Junior Otis Livingston II led the Patriots with a team-high 17 points and a career-best eight assists vs. JMU. He is averaging 17.8 points, 5.0 assists and shooting 52.4 percent from 3-point range over the past five games.

• Freshman Goanar Mar added 14 points on a perfect shooting night (4-4 FG, 5-5 FT). He made all four of his free throws in the final seven seconds and drew two key fouls that helped the Patriots win the game.

• Mar has averaged 17.2 points and shot 58.3 percent from the floor over the past five contests.

• Mar's 15.2 points per game ranks second on the Patriots this season. It's also the highest scoring average by a Mason freshman in more than 20 seasons. He is among the top-25 freshman scorers in the country according to NCAA.com and is second amongst A-10 rookies.

• Junior Jaire Grayer has grabbed at least eight rebounds in six of seven games in 2017-18. He's fourth in the A-10 in rebounding average (8.1 rpg).

• The Patriots feature a rotation of just eight players, but the group is a disciplined bunch. The Green & Gold rank 26th in the nation in fewest fouls per game (15.9).

• Mason is a perfect 3-0 in games decided by five points or less.

A BALANCED STARTING LINEUP
Each of Mason's five starters is averaging at least 9.6 points and playing at least 30 minutes per contest. On the other side of things, the Patriots' bench players account for just 16.1 percent of the team's total minutes (349th out of 351 Div. I teams). The Patriot bench consists of three freshmen who continue to show signs of progress as the season moves along. Expect the bench minutes to increase as the calendar ultimately shifts to conference play.

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.

OTIS APPROACHING 1,000
Junior Otis Livingston II has posted 974 career points through his first 73 games and is just 26 points away from 1,000. He is on pace to reach the milestone in Mason's first 8-10 games, which would make him the fastest to hit 1,000 in 18 years (George Evans reached in 60 games in 1999). At that pace, he would be the 12th-fastest in Mason's 51-year history to reach 1,000 career points.

HISTORY vs. AUBURN
Sunday's game marks the first ever matchup between George Mason and Auburn in men's basketball.

HISTORY vs. SEC OPPONENTS
Mason is 5-5 (.500) all time against teams currently in the Southeastern Conference. The Patriots'  most common opponents are Ole Miss (2-1), Mississippi State (1-1) and South Carolina (1-1). Mason's most famous SEC showdown came in the 2006 NCAA National Semifinal against eventual national champion Florida. In the most recent matchup with an SEC school, the Patriots took down Ole Miss (68-62) on Nov. 19, 2015, in the opening game of the Charleston Classic.

A LOOK AT THE TIGERS (5-1, 0-0 SEC)
Auburn was picked to finish ninth out of 14 teams in the 2017-18 SEC preseason poll. The Tigers have won five of their first six games to begin the year, including a victory at Dayton (73-60) in the team's last outing on Wednesday. Auburn ranks 16th nationally in scoring offense (90.0 ppg), 19th in blocks per game (6.0) and 26th in rebounding margin (+9.3). Junior guard Bryce Brown leads the team in scoring (17.5 ppg) while sophomore guard Mustapha Heron contributes 17.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg. Jared Harper posts 10.7 points per contest and dishes out 4.8 assists per game. Presbyterian transfer DeSean Murray chips in 10.5 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per contest.

UP NEXT
Mason returns home to take a trip down memory lane Wednesday. The Patriots will host old CAA foe William & Mary on December 6 inside EagleBank Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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