WHEN: Friday, 6 p.m.
WHERE: PPG Paints Arena - Pittsburgh, Pa.
RECORDS: Mason (20-12, 9-9), VCU (24-7, 14-4)
SERIES RECORD: Mason trails, 19-37
LAST MEETING: VCU def Mason, 72-60, on March 4 in Richmond
TELEVISION: NBC Sports Network
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES (PDF): Click here

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (20-12) makes its Atlantic 10 quarterfinals debut Friday when the Patriots take on No. 2 seed VCU (24-7, 14-4) inside PPG Paints Arena.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Rams is set for 6 p.m. Friday's game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network. Paul Burmeister will handle play-by-play duties while David Kaplan will provide color commentary. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the A-10 Digital Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m.

* Mason advanced to the quarters with an improbable, 82-71 victory over Fordham on Thursday night. Down seven (62-55) with 37 seconds to play, the Green & Gold rallied to tie the game with a lay-in at the buzzer of regulation. Mason was +11 (17-6) in the overtime session.

* The victory marked the first A-10 Tournament win in Mason's four-year stint in the league.

* Thursday's win also gave the Patriots a 20-win season for the 13th time in program history (first since 2012-13).

* The Patriots shot 75 percent in overtime (2-3 3pt FG), but were at just 37.3  percent (19-51) in regulation.

* Senior Marquise Moore led the Patriots with a superb effort vs. Fordham. The Queens, N.Y., product tallied a game-high 25 points, grabbed a career-best 19 rebounds and dished out a game-high five assists in 42 minutes.

* Moore's 19 rebounds set a new PPG Paints Arena record and just missed the A-10 Tourney record of 20, set by Saint Joseph's Carlin Warley in 1995. The mark also is t-5th most in Mason history.

* Since double-doubles have been kept by the NCAA (2009-10), the record for a guard is 20 (Andre Roberson - Colorado). Moore's 19 are t-2nd all-time and are the most by a player 6-2 and under (next closest is 11).

* With his 19 rebounds, Moore is now up to 343 on the season. He needs 11 vs. VCU to pass Will Thomas (2007-08, 353) and become Mason's all-time single season rebounding leader.

* The Patriots held an impressive +30 (52-22) edge on the glass vs. Fordham and turned 17 offensive rebounds into a +12 (16-4) edge in second chance points for the game.

* With the team's 38th rebound vs. Fordham, Mason set a new program record for rebounds in a season. Mason now has 1,301 boards on the year. The previous record was 1,287, set in 1976-77.

* Jalen Jenkins needs just one rebound vs. VCU to hit the 700-rebound milestone for his Mason career.

* Otis Livingston II made 6-of-6 free throw attempts vs. Fordham. He has made 44 of his past 46 at the line.

* The Green & Gold shot 38.6 percent (98-254) from the 3-point line over the first 16 games of the Atlantic 10 slate. However, Mason is just 20.5 percent (9-44) from beyond the arc over the past three contests.

* Mason is shooting 81.4 percent (188-231) from the free throw line over the past 10 games. The Patriots rank in the top-50 nationally in free throw percentage (.744) and get 23.1 percent of their points from the line (23rd nationally).

* Over the past six games (2-4), the Patriots have averaged 13.7 turnovers/contest and Mason's opponents are a combined +53 (94-41) in points off turnovers during that stretch.

HISTORY vs. VCU
Friday's game marks the 57th all-time meeting between old CAA and current A-10 foes George Mason and VCU. Mason is 13-10 at home vs. VCU, 5-21 on the road and 1-6 on neutral courts. The Rams have won 10 of the past 13 meetings, including the first two this season. Marquise Moore (13.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg), Jalen Jenkins (11.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 66.7 FG%), Otis Livingston II (10.5 ppg, 4.0 apg) and Ian Boyd (10.0 ppg) have led the way for the Patriots in the two games vs. the Rams this season.

HISTORY vs. DIV. I VIRGINIA OPPONENTS
Friday's game marks the 381st all-time game for Mason against an in-state, Div. I foe. The Patriots are 177-203 (.466). Harkening back to its CAA history, Mason's most common in-state opponents are James Madison (46-50), Richmond (23-35), William & Mary (39-27), Old Dominion (21-36) and VCU (19-37). Mason is 4-2 against in-state foes this season, with victories over James Madison, Longwood and Richmond (2x) and two losses to VCU.

A LOOK AT THE RAMS (24-7, 14-4 A-10)
VCU finished second in the A-10 after posting a 14-4 league mark (24-7 overall). The Rams have won 19 of their past 22 contests. All-A-10 First Team selection JeQuan Lewis leads the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) and assists (4.6 apg) while averaging 1.8 steals. Junior forward Justin Tillman chips in 12.8 ppg and a team-best 8.4 rebounds per contest, while redshirt-senior Mo Alie-Cox averages 10.0 ppg and is shooting 56.9 percent from the floor. The Rams average 7.7 steals per game and allow just 66.2 points per contest.

UP NEXT
With a victory over VCU, the Patriots would move on to battle the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 3 Richmond and No. 6 George Washington on Saturday in semifinal action. The 3:30 p.m. contest would air live on CBS Sports Network.

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