WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: George Mason (0-0), Stony Brook (0-0)
SERIES: First meeting
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team begins the
Kim English era on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. contest vs. preseason America East favorite Stony Brook inside EagleBank Arena.
Tip-off between the Patriots and Seawolves is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Bill Rohland. In addition,
Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.
PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots return six letter winners from last season's team, led by preseason All-A-10 Third Team selection
Josh Oduro (10.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg).
• Mason also welcomes back veteran
Jamal Hartwell II (5.4 ppg, 36.8 3pt FG%), who has seen action in 82 games over his first three seasons in Fairfax.
• English brought in a bevy of talented transfers to Fairfax this spring. That includes 6-7 guard
D'Shawn Schwartz, a three-year starter at Colorado who scored 1,026 points for the Buffaloes, shot 40 percent from 3 in 2020-21 and started 95 of 97 games over the past three seasons.
• In addition, graduate transfer
DeVon Cooper averaged career bests in scoring (12.5 ppg), 3pt FG% (.366) and assists (2.4/game) in 2020-21 at Morehead State. He scored a team-high 21 points (7-11 FG, 5-8 3pt FG) vs. West Virginia in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
• Both of those transfers are expected to see significant minutes for the Patriots. In addition, junior Davonte "Ticket" Gaines joins the roster after playing his first two seasons at Tennessee alongside English. A gifted defensive player with the ability to guard multiple positions, Gaines also has shown a balanced offensive skill set during the preseason.
• Mason welcomes a talented class of freshmen, led by Australian import
Blake Jones, who suited up for his home country in the FIBA U-19 World Cup this summer in Latvia.
• Junior point guard
Xavier Johnson has enjoyed a productive preseason after battling injury for much of last season. He has played in 53 career games (including 27 starts) over his first two seasons. As a freshman, Johnson averaged 7.1 points and dished out 80 assists, the most by a Patriot rookie since Otis Livingston II.
• The Patriots were picked to finish eighth in the 2021 A-10 Preseason Poll. St. Bonaventure was selected to win the league and received all 28 first-place votes.
• Mason's 13-game non-conference schedule includes seven home games and contests against preseason KenPom top-100 foes Maryland (18), Nevada (49) and South Dakota State (89). What's more, Stony Brook, James Madison and South Dakota State were picked to win their leagues, while Penn (4th), Morgan State (2nd), Nevada (3rd) and Navy (3rd) all were voted top-3 in their respective preseason league polls.
MASON IN SEASON OPENERS
The Patriots are 32-23 (.582) all time in season openers. Mason is 20-8 at home, 7-13 on the road and 5-2 in neutral site debuts. The Patriots have won two-straight, and three of their past four campaign debuts.
HISTORY vs. AMERICA EAST OPPONENTS
Mason is 19-12 (.613) all time against teams currently in the America East Conference. Mason's most common opponents are UMBC (13-8), Vermont (2-1), Hartford (2-0) and Maine (0-2). In the most recent matchup with an America East foe, the Patriots defeated UMBC, 69-53, on Dec. 21, 2019, inside EagleBank Arena. Then-sophomore
Jamal Hartwell II tallied 14 points (6-11 FG) in the victory.
A LOOK AT STONY BROOK (0-0, 0-0 AMERICA EAST; KenPom 184)
Stony Brook was picked to finish first in the 2021-22 America East preseason poll and received five of a possible nine first place votes. The Seawolves return seven of their top-8 scorers from 2021-22 and welcome back Preseason All-Conference selection Elijah Olanyi, who was a two-time all-league pick at Stony Brook before transferring to Miami (Fla.) for the 2020-21 campaign. Olanyi is part of a four-player transfer class which features the most career points of any incoming class in the nation. The group includes Jahlil Jenkins, who averaged 16.8 points and shot 38 percent from 3-point range at Fairleigh Dickinson last season. Stony Brook went 9-14 last season and posted a 7-9 mark in America East play.
ODURO TAKES MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN 2020-21
Preseason All-A-10 Third Team selection
Josh Oduro put together a breakout sophomore season in 2020-21. After averaging 4.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 16.9 minutes as a freshman, he more than doubled his scoring average (10.0 ppg) and grabbed 6.0 rebounds per contest while shooting 50.8 percent in 23.6 minutes/game. His 2.8 offensive rebounds/game ranked third-most in the A-10 and 60th nationally. The Gainesville, Va., product posted five double-digit scoring outings in 32 games as a freshman, then improved that to 11 double-figure scoring games in just 22 contests as a sophomore. Oduro poured in a career-best 27 points at VCU on Feb. 20, 2021, earning A-10 Player of the Week honors in the process.
TALK ABOUT AN EFFICIENCY APARTMENT!
Graduate students
DeVon Cooper and
D'Shawn Schwartz are Mason roommates who combined for quite the 2021 NCAA Tournament showing at their previous schools. At Colorado, Schwartz averaged 15 points, shot 64.7 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from 3-point range in two 2021 NCAA Tournament games. That included an 18-point performance in a win over Georgetown in which he hit 5-of-7 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Cooper tallied a team-high 21 points for Morehead State in their NCAA matchup with West Virginia and knocked down 5-of-8 3-pointers. In all, the roommates combined to shoot a sizzling 65 percent from deep (13-20) during the Big Dance.
UP NEXT
Mason continues its 2021-22 Opening Week in Fairfax on Friday with a contest against Ivy League foe Penn. Tip-off between the Patriots and the Quakers is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
