WHEN: Saturday, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Williamsburg, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (3-5), William & Mary (2-5)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 39-28
LAST MEETING: William & Mary def. Mason, 77-70, on Dec. 6, 2017
LIVE VIDEO: TribeAthletics.tv
LIVE AUDIO: A-10 Digital Network 
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

COX TV INFO: The game will be broadcast on Cox Yurview Virginia. It is available in Hampton Roads (1011), Fairfax County (1074), Fredericksburg (1077) and Roanoke (1009).

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team will play the back half of a home-and-home series with former CAA foe William & Mary Saturday in Kaplan Arena.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Tribe is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday's game will be streamed on William & Mary's website via TribeAthletics.tv. In addition on Saturday, "Voice of the Patriots" Bill Rohland's audio stream will be available for free via GoMason.com. Pre-game coverage begins at 3:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• Mason is coming off its third win of the season - an 82-75 victory over Morgan State Wednesday in Fairfax.

• The Patriots outscored the Bears 11-4 over the final two minutes of play to pick up the win.

• Senior guard Otis Livingston II scored a game-high 22 points (7-13 FG) and dished out seven assists in the winning effort. He's averaging 24.0 points, 4.0 assists and shooting 48.4 percent over the past two games.

• Against Morgan State, he became just the fourth player in Mason history to reach the 400-assist milestone. He's also up to 1,537 career points and 11th on the all-time scoring list after passing Mason legends Jai Lewis and Rudolph Jones Wednesday. Livingston II and RIcky Wilson are the only players in Mason history with 1500+ points and 400+ assists.

• Justin Kier (14 pts, 5 ast, 3 stl) and Javon Greene (17 pts, 8 reb, 3-5 3pt FG) also made significant contributions for the Green & Gold against the Bears on Wednesday.

• AJ Wilson swatted five shots vs. MSU, just one off his season high. He leads the A-10 and is 12th nationally in blocks per game (2.8) this season.

• Mason is 3-1 this season when it commits fewer than 15 turnovers and 0-4 when the turnover count is above 15.

• Mason limited Morgan State to 41.7 percent shooting. The Patriots are holding their opponents to an improved 40.4 percent from the floor over the past two games (.500 over previous six contests).

• The Patriots are getting to the line in 2018-19. Mason ranks 30th nationally in free throw attempts and 37th in free throws made.

• Mason's losses are against teams with a combined record of 26-8 (.765) so far in 2018-19.  

• The Patriots shot an improved 42.1 percent (8-19) from beyond the arc vs. Morgan State. Mason had shot better than 31 percent from deep in only one previous contest leading in to Wednesday.

• Mason is holding opponents to 30.6 percent from deep through the first eight games. Patriot foes have shot below 30 percent from 3-point range in each of the past six games.

• Justin Kier is sixth in the Atlantic 10 and 73rd nationally with 2.0 steals per game.

HISTORY vs. WILLIAM & MARY
Saturday's game marks the 68th all-time meeting between George Mason and William & Mary in men's basketball. The two teams met last season for the first time since Mason's final season in the CAA (2012-13). The Patriots are 20-12 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 19 meetings between the programs, although the Tribe claimed a 77-70 win last season in Fairfax. William & Mary closed the game on a 15-4 run. Jaire Grayer posted a game-high 24 points, while Otis Livingston II tallied 20 points (9-14 FG) in the game.

HISTORY vs. CAA OPPONENTS
Mason is 219-162 (.575) 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 (39-28) and UNC Wilmington (40-31). This season, Mason also will play James Madison on Dec. 7 in Fairfax.

HISTORY vs. IN-STATE DIV. I OPPONENTS
Friday's game marks the 388th all-time game for Mason against an in-state, Div. I foe. The Patriots are 180-207 (.465) vs. Commonwealth opponents over the past 52 seasons. Harkening back to its CAA history, Mason's most common in-state opponents are James Madison (47-50), William & Mary (39-28), Richmond (24-36), VCU (20-39) and Old Dominion (21-36).

A LOOK AT THE TRIBE (2-5, 0-0 CAA; KenPom No. 167)
William & Mary was picked to finish fourth out of 10 teams in the 2018-19 CAA preseason poll. The Tribe is 2-5 to start the year, with wins over High Point (79-69) and Saint Joseph's (87-85). The team has played 59th-most difficult schedule in the nation so far this season. W&M is 70th nationally in offensive effiiciency, but 303rd in defensive efficiency. Junior Justin Pierce is averaging a double-double for the Tribe (19.0 ppg, 10.9 rpg) while junior forward Nathan Knight is tallying 17.7 ppg and shooting a team-high 60.3 percent from the floor. Five William & Mary players shoot more than 40 percent from 3-point range, including Matt Million, who posts 13.0 points per contest and makes 40.5 percent of his attempts from deep.

UP NEXT
Mason returns home for a contest against mid-major power Vermont on Monday night inside EagleBank Arena. Tip-off between the Patriots and Catamounts is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+.

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