WHEN: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Mullins Center, Amherst, Mass.
RECORDS: Mason (13-9, 2-7), Massachusetts (9-14, 3-7)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 9-3
TELEVISION: NBCSN
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF) 

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team plays the second of two 2020 games against Massachusetts on Sunday in Amherst.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Minutemen is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday's game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network, featuring commentary from Ryan Burr and Tim McCormick. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage set to begin at 2:15 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots are coming off a 74-65 setback at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 1 in Olean. Mason held an early second-half lead, but shot 33.3 percent (2-13 3pt FG) in that stanza as SBU pulled away late.

• Junior Javon Greene led Mason with 17 points and seven rebounds at SBU. He is seventh in the A-10 in scoring in league play (17.0 ppg) and third in steals (2.7 spg). He's scored 10+ points in six of the past seven contests.

• Sophomore Jordan Miller added 15 points, marking his highest point total since Dec. 30 at TCU. Miller is shooting just 23.5 percent (8-34) over the past three games, but has made his mark on the glass, where he's averaged 4.7 offensive boards/contest during that span.

• Mason is allowing just 5.8 offensive rebounds per game to opponents over the past six contests.

• After being out-rebounded in the first three A-10 games (-13.6 average margin), the Patriots have held the rebounding edge in each of the past six (+4.8 average margin).

• Mason is 6-1 when scoring 70 or more points this season, but just 7-8 when scoring less than 70. The Patriots are 2-7 when not hitting at 40 percent or better from the field.

• Mason is currently in a stretch of its A-10 schedule in which the Patriots play five of seven games on the road.

• Over the past two games, Mason is shooting 21.7 percent (10-46) from 3-point range and 50 percent (21-42) from the free throw line.

• Sophomore Jamal Hartwell II put together his best shooting performance since the Cayman Islands Classic on Feb. 1 at St. Bonaventure. He hit four 3-pointers on eight attempts and finished with 13 points. He also played 30 minutes, marking his first 30+ minute game since Dec. 7 vs. American.

• Mason's last five opponents have posted a combined A-10 winning percentage of .625 (30-18). The Patriots' next five opponents have tallied a combined A-10 win percentage of .404 (19-28).

• Freshman point guard Xavier Johnson has tallied at least three assists in five of the past six games. He has played at least 30 minutes in every conference game this season.

• Mason has dropped five of six games since Kier's injury.

• AJ Wilson is fourth in the nation in blocks/game (3.3). He is fourth on Mason's all-time blocks list (145) and his 73 blocks in 2019-20 are second-most in single-season school history. He needs just five more blocks to overtake George Evans (1998-99) for the top spot.

HISTORY vs. MASSACHUSETTS
Sunday's matchup marks the 13th all-time meeting between Mason and UMass. The Patriots hold a 9-3 advantage in the series and have won the past eight meetings. The Patriots are 4-1 all time against UMass in Amherst. Eight of the past 10 meetings have been decided by six points or less and three of the past six contests have gone to overtime.

Mason won the first matchup between the teams, 73-63, on Jan. 22 in Fairfax. Javon Greene posted his second-straight 30+ point game, tallying 32 points to go along with seven rebounds. In addition to Greene's impressive showing, Mason received two big contributions from freshmen. Josh Oduro tallied a career-best 11 points (5-7 FG) and grabbed four rebounds while playing solid defense on UMass star Tre Mitchell. Meanwhile, Xavier Johnson notched 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists in 37 minutes of work.

A LOOK AT THE MINUTEMEN (13-8, 5-3 A-10; NET No.  177, KenPom No. 198)
UMass was picked to finish 11 out of 14 teams in the A-10 Preseason Poll. The Minutemen are 3-7 to begin conference play while owning victories over La Salle, Duquesne and Saint Joseph's. The Minutmen allow 1.072 points/possession in conference play (13th in A-10). Freshman center Tre Mitchell leads the Minutemen with 16.2 points per game and chips in 6.2 rebounds per contest, while junior Carl Pierre adds 13.5 points/game and shoots 37.3 percent from 3-point territory. Freshman Sean East II adds 9.5 points and a team-best 4.8 assists per contest.
 
UP NEXT
Mason hits the road for a Wednesday night contest at VCU. Tip-off in the Siegel Center between the Patriots and Rams is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.