WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m. 
RECORDS: George Mason (4-4, 0-0), Toledo (5-2, 0-0)
SERIES: Toledo leads, 3-1
TELEVISION: MASN
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 plays host to top-100 foe Toledo on Saturday afternoon as the Patriots honor former George Mason University President, Dr. Alan Merten.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Rockets is set for 2 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised on MASN and streamed on ESPN+. The broadcast will feature commentary from Bill Rohland and John Feinstein. In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network. Saturday's pregame coverage will begin at 1:45 p.m. (ET).

SATURDAY'S GAME DUBBED THE MERTEN CLASSIC
Saturday's game vs. Toledo will be called The Merten Classic to honor former George Mason University president, Dr. Alan Merten. Merten served as Mason's fifth president from 1996-2012 and proved to be one of athletics' biggest supporters during his tenure, including during the magical 2006 Final Four run. Merten, who passed away in 2020, will be honored at halftime with a special video presentation. After the video, his wife, Mrs. Sally Merten, and members of the Merten family will be recognized at halfcourt in a special ceremony.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots are 4-0 at home this season and 14-4 inside EagleBank Arena under head coach Kim English.

• The Green & Gold have won the first two games of the homestand, including an 81-77 overtime victory over Hofstra on Wednesday night. Mason trailed 72-69 with less than three minutes to play in overtime, but rallied to take the victory.

• DeVon Cooper scored 10 of his 13 points in the extra session and made six critical free throws to keep the Patriots ahead. He's now scored 10+ points in five of the past six games.

• Josh Oduro paced the Patriots with a season-best 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to post his second double-double of the season and 11th of his career. He's averaging 16.5 points per game over the past four contests.

• Point guard Ronald Polite III added 14 points (5-9 FG) and a game-high five assists vs. the Pride. He is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 55 percent from the floor in the two games since returning from injury. He's a team-best +34 over those two contests.

• Oduro is now just 36 points away from 1,000 for his career. Victor Bailey Jr. is only 17 points away from 1,000.

• Cooper has made 232 career 3-pointers, which ranks 26th nationally. He needs one more triple to pass former teammate D'Shawn Schwartz for third most all time by a George Mason player. Cooper has made 99 of those triples in a Mason uniform.

• Though eight games, Mason has been outscored by three total points (553-556). Turnovers have been a big part of the difference, as Mason is -31 (97-128) in points off turnovers over the eight games. Hofstra held a +11 edge (18-7) against Mason on Wednesday.

• The Patriots are 3-0 when committing less than 15 turnovers so far this season but 1-4 when they commit more than 15.

• The Patriots are shooting 49.1 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from 3 in home games, but just 41.2 percent overall and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc in road and neutral site affairs.

• Mason shot a much improved 82.6 percent (19-23) from the free throw line against Hofstra. For the season, the Patriots still rank 322nd out of 363 teams nationally in free throw percentage (.628).

• Mason has held its opponent to 30 percent or less from 3pt range in six of eight games this season. The Green & Gold rank 69th nationally in 3pt FG defense (.288).

• The Patriots' four opponents on their current homestand are a combined 20-11 this season. That includes Queens (6-2), Hofstra (6-3), Toledo (5-2) and UMES (3-4).

HISTORY vs. MAC OPPONENTS
Mason is 6-10 all time against schools currently in the Mid-American Conference. The Patriots' most common foes are Toledo (1-3) and Kent State (1-2). In the most recent matchup with a MAC program, the Patriots dropped an 82-74 contest to Buffalo early this season as part of the Paradise Jam on November 21. Josh Oduro led Mason with 17 points in the game.

HISTORY vs. TOLEDO
Saturday's game marks the fifth all time meeting between George Mason and Toledo in men's basketball. All four meetings came early in the tenure of head coach Jim Larranaga. Toledo won three of the four meetings in the pair of home and homes played between 1998 and 2001. The two programs split a pair of games in Fairfax. In the most recent matchup, the Patriots earned a 67-64 home victory on November 24, 2001.

A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS (5-2, 0-0 MAC; KenPom #90)
Toledo was picked to win the MAC after capturing the league's regular season title in 2021-22. The Rockets are 5-2 to begin the season, including a neutral-site victory over top-50 UAB (93-85) and a home win over Richmond (90-67) this past Wednesday. Toledo ranks 11th nationally in scoring offense (86.9 ppg) and 37th in 3pt percentage (.385). RayJ Dennis leads the Rockets with 18.7 points/game, shoots 40.5 percent from 3pt range and ranks 14th in the nation in assists/contest. JT Shumate matches him in scoring (18.7 ppg) and shoots 59.1 percent from the floor, while Setric Miller Jr. (15.7 ppg) and Dante Maddox Jr. (11.3 ppg) also average double figures for Toledo.

UP NEXT
Mason wraps up its four-game homestand with a Tuesday night contest vs. Maryland Eastern Shore. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.