WHERE: UVI Sports & Fitness Center - St. Thomas, USVI
WHEN: Friday, 8 p.m. (ET)
RECORDS: George Mason (2-1, 0-0), Boston College (2-1, 0-0)
SERIES: First meeting
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GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

ST. THOMAS, USVI - The George Mason University men's basketball team opens the 2022 Paradise Jam Friday night with an 8 p.m. contest vs. Boston College on St. Thomas.

All three games of the Paradise Jam will be broadcast on ESPN3, featuring commentary from Brad Wells (play-by-play) and Kevin Lehman (color commentary). In addition, Bill Rohland will call the games on the GoMason Digital Network. Friday's pregame coverage will begin at 7:45 p.m. (ET).

PATRIOT POINTS
• Depending on Friday's results, Mason's next opponent will be either Belmont or Tarleton State. With a win over BC, Mason would next play Sunday at 8 p.m. (ET). With a loss, the Patriots would play Saturday at 5:45 p.m. (ET). Monday's third game will be against either Buffalo, Drake, Howard or Wyoming.

• Last time out, the Patriots improved to 2-0 in Fairfax wih a 73-56 win over American Sunday. Mason is now 12-4 (.750) at EagleBank Arena under head coach Kim English.

• The Patriots trailed 34-27 at the break, but held American to just 33.3 percent shooting in the second half.

• Guard Victor Bailey Jr. led Mason with a season-best 23 points on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting day. He also went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and grabbed six rebounds. Bailey ranks second in the A-10 in 3pt FG% (.500, 8-16) so far this season.

• After starting the season 2-of-11 from 3pt range, sharpshooter DeVon Cooper broke out of his mini slump with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc against AU. It marked the eighth time in his career he hit five triples in a game.

• Mason leads the A-10 and is 44th nationally in 3pt FG% (.409) through three games this season. The Patriots are making 8.7 3-pointers/game at a.406 clip so far this season.

• Senior Josh Oduro dished out a career-best six assists vs. American to go along with 13 points and five rebounds.

• Sophomore point guard Ronald Polite III added eight points, five assists and just one turnover vs. American. He ranks third in the A-10 in assist/turnover ratio (3.00).

• The Patriots have held their opponent to less than 30 percent from 3pt range in two of three games this season. Mason is sixth in the A-10 and 70th nationally in 3pt FG defense (.261).

• The Patriots are picked fifth out of 15 teams in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. That is tied for Mason's top preseason prognostication since joining the league in 2013-14.

• Mason is 4-2 (.667) all time in the Paradise Jam. The Patriots went 2-1 in the U.S. Virgin Islands edition in 2012, then posted an identical 2-1 mark in 2020 at the event played in Washington D.C. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

HISTORY vs. ACC OPPONENTS
Mason is 4-23 all time against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Mason's most common opponents are Virginia (1-8), Louisville (0-4) and Duke (0-3). In the most recent matchup with an ACC foe, Mason fell to No. 16 Louisville, 72-61, on Nov. 12, 2017 at the KFC Yum! Center. Mason's win against Virginia came 10 seasons ago, when the Patriots defeated the Cavaliers 63-59 to open the 2012-13 season in front of a sold-out EagleBank Arena crowd of 9,840. But perhaps the Patriots' most memorable victory over an ACC team came in 2006, when Mason knocked off No. 3 seed North Carolina in the NCAA second round during the program's iconic run to the Final Four.

HISTORY AGAINST THE BEANPOT FOUR
The Patriots are 14-14 (.500) all time against the four Division I schools which call greater Boston home. Mason's most common opponent is Northeastern (10-12), as the schools overlapped for a number seasons in the old CAA. In addition, the Patriots are 3-2 all time against Boston University and 1-0 against Harvard. Friday's game will be Mason's first ever against Boston College.

CRUISIN' USA WITH MASON BASKETBALL
Over the course of their 57-year history, the Patriots have played in 39 of the 50 U.S. states, as well as two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands) and the District of Columbia. Mason has yet to play games in Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Outside of the U.S., the Patriots have played regular season contests in the Cayman Islands, Mexico and Canada.

Mason last played in the Virgin Islands edition of the Paradise Jam in November 2012, when the Patriots defeated Mercer (52-49) and Quinnipiac (74-58) and lost to New Mexico (70-69). The Patriots also suited up in the D.C. edition of the Paradise Jam during the 2020-21 COVID-19 shortened season at the D.C. Convention Center. Mason defeated Queens (66-65) and Howard (84-70) in that event and fell to Belmont (77-67).

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES (2-1, 0-0 ACC; KenPom #107)
Boston College was picked to finish 13th out of 15 teams in the ACC preseason poll. The Eagles return their top-3 scorers from a season ago, including Makai Ashton-Langford (12.0 ppg), DeMarr Langford Jr. (11.3) and Jaeden Zackery (10.3). The Eagles are 2-1 to begin the season, with victories over Cornell (79-77) and Detroit Mercy (70-66) and a loss to Maine (69-64). BC has been without big man Quinten Post (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg in 2021-22) for the early portion of the season due to injury.

BRO-FEST FRIDAY
There are just 32 sets of brothers who play for the same team in Division I college basketball and Friday's matchup features two. That includes Josh and Peter Oduro (George Mason), as well as Makai Ashton-Langford and DeMarr Langford Jr. (Boston College).

UP NEXT
Mason will play its second contest of the Paradise Jam. If the Patriots defeat Boston College, Mason will play on Sunday at 8 p.m. (ET). With a loss, the Patriots would next play Saturday at 5:45 p.m. (ET). Depending on results in the other portion of the bracket, Mason will either face Belmont or Tarleton State in the second game.