WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (4-4), William & Mary (5-2)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 39-27
LAST MEETING: Mason def. William & Mary, 60-58, on Feb. 23, 2013
LIVE VIDEO: A-10 Digital Network ($)
LIVE AUDIO: A-10 Digital Network
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)
TICKETS: Click here

PROMOTION: Head to the Fairfax Circle Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday (Dec. 6) from 11-1 p.m. wearing Mason gear to receive a free chicken sandwich
GAME OF THE WEEK: Free Mason "Jersey Hat" for Mason students with a valid ID
BOOK DRIVE: Bring a Book, Get a Bobblehead! Bring a new or gently used book for children ages 9-11 to a Mason men's or women's basketball game between now and Jan. 13 and receive a bobblehead (while supplies last). Drop off books at the Ticket Information booth located on the South Concourse of EagleBank Arena now through January 13.

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (4-4) returns home to begin a five-game homestand Wednesday with a contest vs. William & Mary (5-2).

Tip-off between the Patriots and Tribe is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday's game will be streamed on the A-10 Digital Network, featuring commentary from Bill Rohland. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. The video portion of the stream requires a subscription, but the audio feed is free for all listeners.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots are coming off a 79-63 setback at Auburn on Sunday. Mason trailed 25-3, but battled back to take a lead of 52-49 in the second half. Mason trailed by just four (67-63) with four minutes to play.

• The Patriots made a season-high 12 3-pointers and shot 46.2 percent from beyond the arc in the game vs. the Tigers. Mason is now 21-of-42 (.500) from deep over its past two games.

• Jaire Grayer posted his second-straight double-double on Sunday with team highs in points (18) and rebounds (11). He's shooting 50 percent (12-24) from 3-point range over the past three games.

• Freshman Javon Greene broke out vs. Auburn with a career high 17 points (6-10 FG, 5-8 3pt FG). He entered the game with nine total points over the season's first seven games and a 0-for-15 start from 3-point territory.

• Otis Livingston II added 13 points and dished out a game-high seven assists at Auburn. He's averaging 7.5 assists over the past two games and ranks third in the A-10 in that category (5.1 apg).

• Mason shot 35.0 percent for the game against Auburn and is now 0-3 this season when not hitting the 40 percent mark (4-1 when shooting better than 40 percent).

• The Patriots made a season-best 11 steals vs. the Tigers and are now averaging 6.4 spg vs. their 5.0 average in 2016-17.

• Livingston II is just 13 points away from 1,000 for his Mason career. If he reaches the milestone vs. William & Mary, he will be the fastest Mason player to hit 1,000 in the past 18 years and the 12th fastest all time to the 1,000-point plateau.

• Livingston II is sixth in the nation in minutes per game (37.6).

HISTORY vs. WILLIAM & MARY
Wednesday's game marks the 67th all-time meeting between George Mason and William & Mary in men's basketball. The two teams are meeting for the first time since 2012-13 - which is the last season Mason competed in the CAA. The Patriots are 20-11 at home vs. the Tribe, 16-16 in Williamsburg and 3-0 on neutral courts.  The Patriots defeated the Tribe in the 2008 CAA Championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Mason has won 16 of the past 18 meetings between the programs.

HISTORY vs. CAA OPPONENTS
Mason is 219-161 (.576) all time against teams currently in the Colonial Athletic Association. The majority of those meetings came when the Patriots competed in the CAA from 1985-2013. The Patriots' most common CAA opponents are James Madison (47-50), William & Mary (39-27) and UNC Wilmington (40-31). Mason is 1-0 vs. CAA foes this season after winning at James Madison, 76-72, on Nov. 29.

HISTORY vs. IN-STATE DIV. I OPPONENTS
Friday's game marks the 383rd all-time game for Mason against an in-state, Div. I foe. The Patriots are 178-204 (.466) vs. Commonwealth opponents over the past 51 seasons. Harkening back to its CAA history, Mason's most common in-state opponents are James Madison (47-50), William & Mary (39-27), Richmond (23-35), Old Dominion (21-36) and VCU (19-38).

A LOOK AT THE TRIBE (5-2, 0-0 CAA)
The Tribe, which was picked to finish eighth in the CAA, has won its last four games and has scored an average of 101 points per game. A large part of its success has come from the play of senior guard Connor Burchfield, who averaged 28.5 points, three rebounds, two assists and 1.5 steals per game in William and Mary's victories over Marshall and Savannah State - earning him CAA Player of the Week accolades. Burchfield also hit 10 3-pointers against Marshall on his way to a career-high 30 points. Burchfield is not alone in the Tribe's 3-point success, as the team ranks first in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (.481) and second in 3-point field goals per game (12.1). The Tribe also is seventh nationally in free throw percentage (.798) and 10th in blocks per game (6.4). Sophomore forward Nathan Knight leads the Tribe with 3.29 bpg (10th nationally) and averages a team-best 19.3 ppg. Justin Pierce averages 15.4 ppg and 9.6 rpg, while Matt Milon and Connor Burchfield have combined to make 50 of their 89 3-point attempts (.562).

UP NEXT
Mason remains at home to battle MEAC power NC Central on Saturday (Dec. 9) at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the A-10 Digital Network. The Eagles have dominated the MEAC over the past few seasons and have won at least 22 games in four of the past five seasons. During that stretch, NCCU has earned two NCAA Tournament berths and a spot in the 2015 NIT. In a three year stretch from 2012-15, the Eagles posted a 46-2 record in MEAC play. NCCU went 25-9 last season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

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