WHEN: Sunday, Noon
WHERE: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (11-2, 0-0), VCU (11-3, 1-0)
SERIES RECORD: Mason trails, 20-41
TELEVISION: NBCSN
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF) 
TICKETS: Click here

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team begins its seventh season of Atlantic 10 play with a contest against preseason league favorite VCU Sunday afternoon inside EagleBank Arena.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Rams is scheduled for 12 p.m. Sunday's game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network, featuring commentary from Terry Gannon and Tim McCormick. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming audio coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• Mason is 1-4 all time in A-10 debuts. The Patriots won 85-60 at Saint Joseph's last season to begin the league slate.

• Sunday marks the fourth time in four seasons Mason has opened A-10 play with a team projected to finish in the top-3 in the league standings, according to the preseason poll. It's the second time in that span Mason has faced the league favorite (URI, 2017-18).

• Mason's 11 regular season non-conference wins are a Division I school record. The Patriots had 10 victories in 2016-17 and 2010-11, and nine in 2011-12 and 2007-08. The 1983-84 team (Div. II) tallied 16 regular season non-conference wins. Mason began the year 5-0 for the first time in school history.

• The Patriots have won 16 of their past 25 A-10 games (.640) dating back to the 2017-18 campaign.

• Mason is coming off an 87-53 setback to TCU Monday in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs made 14 3-pointers and shot 57.9 percent overall for the game (33-57).

• The Patriots are 11-0 in games decided by 20 points or less this season, but have fallen by an average of 28.5 points in their two losses on the year.

• Sophomore Jordan Miller led Mason with 15 points at TCU. Miller is averaging 16.0 points over the last two games and a team-high 13.6 points overall on the season.

• Freshman Xavier Johnson added 14 points (4-7 FG, 2-4 3pt FG), dished out four assists and nabbed a career-best three steals. He's averaging 11.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range over the past three games.

• Redshirt-junior AJ Wilson is third in the nation in blocks/game (3.77) and is eighth in offensive rebounds/contest (4.0).

• Wilson is fifth on Mason's all-time blocks list (121). Next up on the list is Eric Copes (122).

• Mason has won its first eight home games for the first time since 2010-11. That Patriot squad went a perfect 14-0 in Fairfax en route to an NCAA Tournament Round of 32 berth.

• The Patriots have held the rebounding edge in nine of 13 games this season and rank second in the A-10 in rebounding margin (+4.2).

• Mason ranks 37th in the nation with 12.9 offensive rebounds/game.

• Four of the Patriots first six A-10 games are at home.

• VCU is 37th in the country in experience (2.17 years/player), while Mason is 282nd (1.34 years/player).

• Mason is No. 102 in the NCAA NET metric as of Jan. 3 and No. 133 in the rankings compiled by efficiency wiz Ken Pomeroy.

KIER STARTING TO GET HEALTHY
Justin Kier, the 2019 A-10 Most Improved Player, missed his seventh game of the season vs. UMBC (left ankle sprain). He returned and played 26 minutes vs. TCU while leading the Patriots with five assists. Kier, a preseason All-A-10 second team selection, sat out the first six games of 2019-20 with a stress fracture (right foot), then returned to five straight games leading up to UMBC. Kier played those five games with the following minutes progression: 4, 9,16,18,26.

HISTORY vs. VCU
Sunday's game marks the 62nd all-time meeting between old CAA and current A-10 foes George Mason and VCU. Mason is 13-12 at home, 6-22 on the road and 1-7 on neutral courts vs. VCU (20-41 overall). The Rams have won 14 of the past 18 meetings and 10 of the 12 games in Atlantic 10 play. VCU won both matchups in 2018-19. The last Patriot triumph came on February 18, 2018, when the Green & Gold claimed an 81-80 victory in Richmond after a last-second, buzzer-beating tip-in from current Mason senior Ian Boyd.

A LOOK AT THE RAMS (11-3, 1-0 A-10; NET No.  43, KenPom No. 43)
VCU was picked to win the A-10 and received 19 of 28 first place votes in the 2019-20 A-10 preseason poll. The Rams posted a 10-3 non-conference record, with losses to top-50 teams Purdue and Tennessee by a combined four points. VCU opened league play with a 64-46 triumph over Fordham on Thursday in the Siegel Center. The Rams feature their usual brand of havoc defense and rank in the top-10 nationally in turnover margin (+6.4), steals per game (10.1) and turnovers forced/game (19.21).

Preseason All-A-10 Third Team pick Marcus Santos-Silva leads the Rams with 12.4 points and 8.4 rebounds/game while ranking 26th nationally in field goal percentage (.602). Preseason All-A-10 First Team selection Marcus Evans is at 11.5 points and 2.5 assists/contest and shoots a team-best 41.8 percent (23-55) from 3-point range. Senior De'Riante Jenkins averages 10.4 points/contest.

ACTIVATING SUCCESS IN THE ATLANTIC 10
Over the last three seasons, George Mason has become one of the most consistent programs in the A-10. The Patriots are one of just four programs to post a league record of .500 or better in each of the past three campaigns. The other programs are Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure and VCU. Mason has averaged 9.7 A-10 wins over the past three seasons. The Patriots averaged 4.3 conference victories over their first three seasons in the league.
 
UP NEXT
Mason wraps up a two-game homestand to open A-10 play with the first of two contests vs. St. Bonaventure. Tip-off on Wednesday (Jan. 8) vs. the Bonnies is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Stadium and is available locally on MASN.