WHEN: Monday, 5 p.m.
WHERE: John Gray Gymnasium - George Town, Grand Cayman
RECORDS: Mason (5-1), Old Dominion (3-2)
SERIES RECORD: Mason trails, 21-36
LAST MEETING: ODU def. Mason, 75-69, on Dec. 13, 2014, in Fairfax, Va.
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GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman - The George Mason University men's basketball team (5-1) begins play in the 2019 Cayman Islands Classic Monday with a familiar foe in an unfamiliar location, as the Patriots battle former conference rival Old Dominion inside John Gray Gymnasium.

Tip-off in George Town is set for 5 p.m. Monday's game will be broadcast on FloHoops, featuring commentary from Scott Galetti and Kyle Youmans. Monthly subscriptions are available for the pay-walled streaming service, beginning at $12.95. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game live on the GoMason Digital Network. Streaming coverage will begin at 4:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
* Depending on the outcome of Monday's games, Mason will either face Nebraska or Washington State at 5 or 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

* The Patriots began the season 5-0 for the first time in school history.  Mason dropped its first contest of the campaign Friday night with an 86-63 setback at No. 6/7 Maryland.

* Maryland was the highest ranked opponent Mason had faced since 2015.

* The Patriots held the Terps to 40.3 percent from the floor and 27.3 percent from 3, but could muster just 35.7 percent (20-56) on the offensive end. Mason is shooting 31.6 percent (36-114) from the floor over the past two games.

* AJ Wilson led the Patriots with a career-best 19 points at Maryland. He added six rebounds (3 offensive) and three blocks. Wilson is sixth in the country in blocks/game (3.7) and 12th nationally in offensive rebounds/contest (4.5).

* As a team, Mason is second in the A-10 and 30th nationally in blocks per game (5.7). The Patriots are 22nd in offensive rebounds/contest (14.0).

* The Patriots are holding opponents to 25.0 percent from 3-point range through six games. That 3pt FG% defense number ranks the Patriots 23rd nationally.

* After opening 2019-20 with five-straight home games, Mason is in the midst of a four-game road trip. The Patriots are competing in a grueling five-game, eight-day stretch that began with Tuesday's win over Loyola (Md.).

* The Patriots are committing just 11.7 turnovers per game this season (top-75 nationally). Last season, Mason was at 13.0 per game (182nd nationally).

HISTORY vs. OLD DOMINION
George Mason and Old Dominion, two old conference rivals, will meet for the 58th time and just the third occasion since Mason left the CAA at the end of 2013. The Patriots are 2-1 all time on neutral floors against the Monarchs, including a victory in the CAA Championship Game (63-58) on Feb. 28, 1999. Mason is 14-11 against ODU in Fairfax but just 5-24 in Norfolk. ODU holds a 2-0 advantage since the end of the CAA series, including victories at ODU on Jan. 4, 2014 (71-66) and a 75-69 triumph in Fairfax on Dec. 3, 2014. The Patriots lost 22 of the first 23 meetings between the schools from 1978-98, but Mason holds a 20-14 edge since.

HISTORY vs. CONFERENCE USA OPPONENTS
Mason is 28-40 (.4182 all time against teams currently in Conference USA. The bulk of those meetings have come against the Monarchs (21-36). In addition, Mason's most common other C-USA opponents are Charlotte (3-0) and FIU (2-1). In the last meeting with a C-USA program, Mason fell to Louisiana Tech 77-64, during the 2017 Cancun Challenge.

A LOOK AT THE MONARCHS (3-2, 0-0 C-USA; KenPom No. 132)
ODU was picked to finish t-4th in the 14-team Conference USA in the league's 2019-20 preseason poll. The Monarchs return six letter winners and two starters from last season's team, which won the C-USA Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. That group includes the 2019 C-USA Tournament MVP Xavier Green, who paces the Monarchs this season in scoring (17.0 ppg) and grabs 5.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore Jason Wade adds 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and leads the nation with 4.4 steals per contest. Junior Malik Curry tallies 12.8 points and a team-high 3.8 assists per game. The Monarchs are a top-60 KenPom defensive team (.924 opponent points/possesion) but are a sub-250 offensive team (.948). ODU is 10th nationally in offensive rebounds/contest (14.8).

NOVEMBER NON-CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS UNDER PAULSEN
Mason has posted a 4-6 record in November non-conference tournaments under head coach Dave Paulsen. The Patriots went 2-1 in the 2015 Charleston Classic (W vs. Ole Miss, W vs. Oklahoma State, L vs. No. 6 Virginia) and reached the championship game where they fell to the top-10 Cavaliers. Mason also has played in the Gulf Coast Showcase in 2016 (2-1), Cancun Challenge in 2017 (0-2) and Emerald Coast Classic in 2018 (0-2). The Patriots were competitive in last season's event against a pair of KenPom top-35 teams. In the second game against Baylor, Mason trailed by just one at the half and was within four with eight minutes to go. The Bears would go on to defeat Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament en route to a berth in the Round of 32 (L vs. #1 seed Gonzaga). Mason's first opponent at Emerald Coast, Cincinnati, also advanced to the Big Dance as a No. 7 seed in 2019.