WHEN: Thursday, 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Capital One Arena - Washington, D.C.
RECORDS: Mason (15-16, 9-9) vs. Massachusetts (12-19, 5-13)
TELEVISION: NBCSN
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LIVE AUDIO: Click here
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The No. 5 seed George Mason University men's basketball team opens the 2018 Atlantic 10 Tournament Thursday afternoon vs. No. 13 seed Massachusetts.

Tip-off in Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. is set for 2:30 p.m. Thursday's game will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network, featuring commentary from Paul Burmeister and Jordan Cornette. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the A-10 Digital Network (audio only), with streaming coverage beginning at approximately 2:15 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• With a victory, Mason would advance to Friday's quarterfinal round and face No. 4 Saint Joseph's at 2:30 p.m.

• The No. 5 seed marks Mason's best A-10 finish in its five-year tenure in the league. The previous best (No. 7) was earned during the 2016-17 campaign.

• Mason never earned higher than the No. 12 seed in its first three seasons in the league.

• Mason has only been the No. 5 seed in either the A-10 or CAA Tournament just once previous. In the 1987 CAA Tournament, #5 Mason fell to #4 JMU (68-64) in the Patriots' opening game.

• The Patriots are 1-4 all time in the A-10 Tournament. Mason picked up its first ever victory last season with a second round win over Fordham in Pittsburgh.

• Mason is 19-18 (.514) in its past 37 A-10 games after beginning its league tenure with a 12-39 mark (.235) from 2013 to 2016.

• The Patriots have won five of their past seven games.

• Mason is averaging 9.0 A-10 wins over the past two seasons. The Patriots averaged 4.3 conference victories over their first three seasons in the league.

• The Patriots dropped six of their first nine A-10 games this season but won six of their final nine league contests.

• Four of Mason's nine A-10 wins have come in the final second of the game. The Patriots have appeared on SportsCenter three times over the past three weeks.

• Mason tied its A-10 program record with four league road victories this season. The Patriots' Feb. 28 win at VCU marked Mason's first at the Siegel Center since Feb. 25, 2011.

• In conference play, Mason ranked in the top-4 in the league in scoring offense (75.2 ppg) and 3-point field goal percentage (.358). The Patriots also  were second in the league in defensive rebounds/game (28.3) and t-3rd in rebounding margin (+1.4).

• Otis Livingston II ranked fifth in the league in scoring in A-10 play (19.8 ppg) and was sixth in the A-10 in assists in overall games (4.6 apg). The Green & Gold are 12-5 when Otis Livingston II dishes out at least four assists this season.

• Livingston II earned a spot on the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team after garnering third team accolades in the preseason.

• Freshman Goanar Mar is averaging 10.8 points per game, marking the third-highest scoring average by a Mason freshman in 20 seasons. He shot 40.6 percent from 3-point range in A-10 play and has scored at least 16 points in three of the past four games.

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS ON AN ANNUAL BASIS
For the second-straight season, the Patriots finished well above where they were projected to place in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. Picked 12th last season, Mason finished seventh with a 9-9 record and reached the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament. This season, the Green & Gold were projected to place 10th, but earned the No. 5 overall seed in the tournament after posting an identical 9-9 league mark. It marked the biggest positive differential between preseason prediction and postseason finish of any team in the Atlantic 10.

MASON CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The Patriots have posted a 36-41 (.468) all-time record in conference postseason events, including a 30-31 record (.492) in the Div. I era. Mason was 4-8 in NAIA District 19 events and 1-2 in the Mason-Dixon Conference (Div. II), before joining the Div. I ranks (1978-79). In its Div. I history, Mason was 1-4 in ECAC South postseason contests and 29-23 in 28 all-time CAA Tournament games. The Patriots are 1-4 all-time in Atlantic 10 postseason contests after picking up their first ever win in the 2017 A-10 Second Round vs. Fordham. The Patriots have won four postseason conference tournament championships in program history, all during the CAA era (1989, 1991, 2001, 2008).

HISTORY vs. MASSACHUSETTS
Thursday's game would mark the ninth all-time meeting between UMass and George Mason in men's basketball. Mason leads 5-3 and has won the last four matchups. The two teams have never meet in the A-10 Championship. Six of the eight meetings in the series have been decided by six points or less. Mason swept both matchups this season, including an 80-72, overtime win in Amherst on Jan. 3, and a 78-76, last-second victory in Fairfax on Feb. 24. In the last-second win, Ian Boyd posted the game-winner off an assist from Otis Livingston II. Otis also poured in a career-best 33 points and nine assists in the win in Amherst on Jan. 3. He's averaging 27.5 points and 6.5 assists in the two games this year. Jaire Grayer  is averaging 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and shooting 53.3 percent from beyond the arc in the two 2017-18 meetings.

UP NEXT
With a victory on Thursday, Mason would advance to Friday's quarterfinal round, where the Patriots would take on No. 4 seed Saint Joseph's at 2:30 p.m. That game also would be televised on NBC Sports Network.