WHEN: Saturday, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Walter E. Washington Convention Center - Washington, D.C.
RECORDS: George Mason (1-1, 0-0), Howard (0-2, 0-0)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 6-4
LAST MEETING: Mason def. Howard, 106-55, on Dec. 1, 1998
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GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The George Mason University men's basketball team wraps up the DC Paradise Jam Saturday with a contest vs. Howard.
Tip-off between the Patriots and Bison is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Saturday's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3, featuring commentary from Jeremy Huber and Craig Esherick. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 2:45 p.m.
PATRIOT POINTS
* Mason has split its first two games in the event, defeating Queens Thursday (66-65) and falling to Belmont Friday (77-67).
* In the contest against Belmont, Mason jumped out to a 14-point lead (34-20), but was doomed by a poor shooting day in which the Patriots shot 8.7 percent from beyond the arc (2-23). Mason made 26-of-37 2-point attempts (.703).
* Junior
Jordan Miller led Mason with team highs in points (19) and rebounds (9) while tying a career-best with four steals. Miller has now scored 10+ points in 14 consecutive contests.
* Mason used its three-quarter court press to register a whopping 14 steals against the Bruins. That's the highest total by the Patriots since a 14-steal performance on Feb. 22, 2012 at Northeastern (OT). It's the most in regulation since a January 19, 2006 contest against the Huskies.
* The Green & Gold are +2.5 in turnover margin through two games. However, Mason is committing 16.5 turnovers/contest.
* With five more blocks, redshirt-senior
AJ Wilson will tie Andre Gaddy and Mike Morrison for second on the all-time Mason blocks list. With one more steal, senior
Javon Greene will tie Ryan Pearson and Ricky Wilson for 12th on the all-time steals list.
* Greene ranks 14th nationally in free throws made (13) and 31st in free throws attempted (14) through two games.
* After averaging 4.9 points as a freshman, sophomore
Josh Oduro is at 12.5 points/game and shooting 60 percent (12-20) from the floor in the DC Paradise Jam.
* A total of 76.6 percent of Mason's points have come from 2-point range this season (2nd nationally). What's more, the Patriots are sixth in the country in 2-point field goal percentage (.703).
HISTORY vs. HOWARD
Mason and Howard will meet for the 11th time Saturday. It's the first matchup since the 1998-99 season. Eight of the previous 10 meetings between the schools came between 1977 and 1985. Mason is 5-0 all time at home vs. the Bison and 1-4 on the road. The two teams have never previously met on a neutral floor.
HISTORY vs. MEAC OPPONENTS
Mason is 24-23 (.511) all time against teams currently in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Mason's most common opponents are Coppin State (8-14), Howard (6-4) and Morgan State (4-1). The majority of the meetings vs. Coppin State came when the Patriots and Eagles were members of NAIA District 19 in the early 1970s. Mason last played a MEAC team on Nov. 28, 2018, when the Patriots knocked off Morgan State 82-75 in Fairfax.
Javon Greene posted 17 points and eight rebounds in the win.
A LOOK AT THE BISON (0-2, KenPom #298)
Howard was picked to finish third in the MEAC East preseason poll. The Bison are 0-2 to begin the DC Paradise Jam, with setbacks to Belmont (95-78) and Queens (85-71). Howard is shooting a solid 45.5 percent from the floor as a team, but the Bison are allowing opponents to shoot 51.1 percent overall. The big story with Howard this season is the arrival of star freshman Makur Maker, who became the highest-rated recruit ever to attend an HBCU program this summer. Maker is averaging 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and shooting 50 percent through two games. Steve Settle adds 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest for the Bison.
UP NEXT
Mason will return to action Friday with a contest at Big Ten foe Maryland. Tip-off between the Patriots and Terrapins is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.
