WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m.
WHERE: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (13-15, 7-8), Massachusetts (11-17, 4-11)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 4-3
LAST MEETING: Mason def. UMass, 80-72 (OT), on Jan. 3, 2018
TELEVISION: MASN
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LIVE AUDIO: Click here
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GREEN GAME GIVEAWAY: Free Green Game t-shirts for fans (while supplies last)
GAME SPONSOR: George Mason Home Team Program

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (13-15, 7-8) returns to EagleBank Arena for a Saturday evening contest against Massachusetts (11-17, 4-11).

Tip-off between the Patriots and Minutemen is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast regionally on MASN, featuring commentary from Bill Rohland and Craig Esherick. In addition, Tyler Byrum will provide live audio of the game on the A-10 Digital Network, with coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• Mason is 9-6 at home this season, while Massachusetts is 1-9 on the road.

• The Patriots have won four of their past six contests.

• Mason is 17-17 (.500) in its past 34 A-10 games after beginning its league tenure with a 12-39 mark (.235) from 2013 to 2016.

• The Patriots are coming off a thrilling 79-76 buzzer-beating victory at Saint Joseph's on Feb. 21. With the game tied at 76-76 with 0.2 seconds left, Ian Boyd picked up a pass from Otis Livingston II and drained a 3-pointer to give Mason the win.

• It marked the second buzzer-beating win over Saint Joseph's in as many games for the Green & Gold in 2017-18. Livingston II hit a 28-footer to beat the Hawks in Fairfax on Jan. 10.

• The Patriots have now won three A-10 road games. That's tied for the fourth most in the conference this season.

• Mason is currently tied for sixth place in the A-10 standings. The No. 6 and No. 14 places in the league are separated by just three games in the tightly-packed conference.

• Sophomore Justin Kier led the Patriots with a team-high 19 points at SJU, 15 of which came in the second half. He's averaging a team-high 16.3 points over the past four games.

• Freshman Goanar Mar added 16 points and tied a career high with four 3-pointers. It marked his highest scoring output in five games. He's made seven of his past 14 3-pointers.

• Boyd finished the game with 12 points and has now scored in double figures in the past three games for the Green & Gold.

• The Patriots have held their opponent under 27 percent from 3-point range in each of the past three games.

• Two of Mason's final three games are at home. The Patriots could finish as high as No. 4 in the final A-10 standings and earn a double bye in the league tournament, or end up in the A-10 Tournament play-in game (seeds No. 11-14) depending on how the final three games go. Every game counts!

ESPN HIGHLIGHTS BUZZER BEATER WINS OVER SAINT JOE'S
After Ian Boyd's 25-foot 3-pointer at Saint Joseph's sent Mason home with a victory on Feb. 21, Mason clinched a sweep of the Hawks in arguably the most improbable way possible. It marked the second walk-off win over SJU, as Otis Livingston II hit a 28-foot buzzer beater to beat the Hawks in Fairfax on Jan. 10 (81-79). ESPN's SportsCenter and the Scott Van Pelt Show led off their shows on Feb. 21 with clips of both buzzer beaters and analysis of the wins. Both buzzer beaters also were featured on the NCAA's official March Madness college basketball twitter account, as well as by Sports Illustrated, the Sporting News, NBC's College Basketball Talk and more. Between the two shots, Mason generated millions of impressions through the airwaves and on social media channels.

HISTORY vs. MASSACHUSETTS
Saturday's game marks the eighth all-time meeting between UMass and George Mason in men's basketball. Mason leads 4-3 and has won the last three matchups. UMass has won two of the three meetings in Fairfax. Five of the seven meetings in the series have been decided by six points or less. In the first meeting this season, the game went into overtime, with Mason pulling out an 80-72 victory on Jan. 3 in Fairfax. Otis Livingston II poured in a career-best 33 points and nine assists in the win while Jaire Grayer added 20 points for the Green & Gold.

A LOOK AT THE MINUTEMEN (11-17, 4-9 A-10; No. 227 RPI, No. 203 KenPom.com)
Massachusetts was picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the A-10 preseason poll. UMass owns wins over Georgia and Providence and opened A-10 play with a 3-2 mark. But the Minutemen have dropped seven of their last eight games, including each of their last four. The Minutmen rank second in the A-10 and in the top-30 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.392). However, UMass is just 226th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.457). All-A-10 candidate Luwane Pipkins leads the league in scoring (21.5 ppg) and is up to a whopping 24.4 points per contest in league play. He's also 12th in the nation with 3.36 3-point field goals made per game. Freshman Carl Pierre is 11th in the country in 3-point percentage (.459) and averages 12.2 points per contest, while senior C.J. Anderson chips in 9.4 points and is fifth in the A-10 with 5.1 assists per game.

UP NEXT
Mason will play its final A-10 road game of the season Wednesday when the Patriots travel to Richmond to take on VCU. Tip-off between the Patriots and Rams is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on MASN. 

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