WHEN: Saturday, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Ryan Center - Kingston, R.I.
RECORDS: Mason (6-7), Rhode Island (8-3)
SERIES RECORD: Mason trails, 3-4
LAST MEETING: URI def. Mason, 77-74, on Feb. 18, 2017, in Fairfax
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FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason begins its fifth season of Atlantic 10 play with a contest at preseason league favorite Rhode Island on Saturday.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Rams is scheduled for 4 p.m. inside the Ryan Center. Saturday's game will be streamed on the A-10 Digital Network as part of a Cox telecast in the Rhode Island area. The stream will be available nationwide. In addition, an audio stream will be featured on GoMason.com, with commentary from Bill Rohland. Pre-game coverage begins at 3:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
* Mason is 1-2 in road games this season. The Rams are a perfect 7-0 in the Ryan Center in 2017-18.

* The Patriots are 22-48 all-time in A-10 league games, but Mason went 9-9 last season while setting new program records for league wins and road league wins (4).

* Mason is 1-3 all time in Atlantic 10 openers and 0-2 in debuts under Dave Paulsen.

* Last time out, the Green & Gold wrapped up non-conference play with a 86-79 win over Morgan State on Dec. 22. Mason outscored the Bears 54-37 in the second half, while the team's offensive output (86 pts) marked its best of the season.

* Sophomore Justin Kier led the Patriots with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds. He's averaging a team-best 19.5 points and shooting 59.1 percent from the floor over the past two games. He's posted 10+ points in four-consecutive contests.

* Junior Jaire Grayer added 19 points vs. the Bears and tied a career high with five 3-point field goals made (5-of-7 3pt FG).

* Freshman forward Greg Calixte made his second-straight start and posted a career-high nine points (4-4 FG). He's averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 21.5 mpg while shooting 85.7 percent (6-7) over the past two games.

* Mason made 6-of-20 (.300) 3-pointers vs. MSU but the team is just 10-of-57 (.175) from deep over the past three games.

* From 3-point range, Mason is 3-5 when it shoots under 35 percent from deep (3-2 when over 35 percent).

* Mason shot 52.7 percent overall vs. Morgan State and is now 6-2 when shooting over 40 percent from the floor this season (0-5 when shooting less than 40 percent).

* Junior point guard Otis Livingston II is fourth in the A-10 in assists per game (4.3). The Patriots are 5-2 when he dishes out at least four assists this season.

PATRIOTS CHALLENGED BY MORE DIFFICULT SCHEDULE
Mason's  2017-18 non-conference schedule featured far more top-125 opponents than the 2016-17 slate, according to KenPom.com. The Patriots faced six top-125 foes and three top-50 opponents in 2017-18, compared to three top-125 and 0 top-50 opponents last season.

HISTORY vs. RHODE ISLAND
Saturday's game marks the eighth all-time meeting between George Mason and Rhode Island in men's basketball. URI holds a 4-3 lead in the series. The teams have split four meetings in Fairfax (2-2) and URI is 2-1 in matchups held in the Ocean State. Rhode Island is 4-0 in Atlantic 10 games against the Patriots. The teams first met on Nov. 11, 2011, with the Patriots taking the non-conference game, 92-90, in Fairfax. Last season, URI won 77-74 in Fairfax, despite a valiant second-half comeback by the Green & Gold. Jaire Grayer posted 11 points and made 3-of-4 3-point attempts in last season's matchup.

ATLANTIC 10 HISTORY
Mason is 22-48 (.314) in league games since the program entered the Atlantic 10 in 2013-14. After winning five or fewer A-10 contests during the first three seasons while finishing no better than 12th, the Green & Gold broke through with a 9-9 mark in 2016-17 and a No. 7 finish. Mason also won its first A-10 Tournament game in program history.

A LOOK AT THE RAMS (8-3, 0-0 A-10; No. 16 RPI)
Rhode Island was picked to win the Atlantic 10 in the league's preseason poll. The Rams won eight of their 11 non-conference games, including key victories over No. 23 Seton Hall and archrival Providence. Rhode Island won the A-10 Tournament in 2016-17 and defeated No. 6 seed Creighton in the Round of 64 before nearly knocking off No. 3 Oregon in the Round of 32. This season, the Rams, despite battling injuries to key players, have excelled due to depth at the guard position and a top-100 scoring defense. The Rams also rank in the top-10 nationally in fewest turnovers and turnover margin. Preseason All-A-10 first team pick E.C. Matthews missed much of the non-conference slate due to injury. In his place, preseason second team All-A-10 pick Jared Terrell is averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game, while Stanford Robinson chips in 10.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and is eighth nationally with 2.7 steals per game. Matthews is at 11.6 ppg in five contests in 2017-18.

UP NEXT
Mason wraps up its opening Atlantic 10 road trip with a contest at Massachusetts on Wednesday (Jan. 3) in Amherst. Tip-off between the Patriots and Minutemen is set for 7:30 p.m.

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