WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Hagan Arena - Philadelphia, Pa. 
RECORDS: George Mason (12-11, 5-5), Saint Joseph's (10-13, 4-8)
SERIES: Mason leads, 9-5
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (12-11, 5-5) begins a three-game road swing with a contest at Saint Joseph's (10-13, 4-8) Wednesday night.

Tip-off on Hawk Hill is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday's contest will be broadcast on ESPN+. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots will look to get back on the winning track after dropping three of their last four. Most recently, Mason fell to VCU, 85-70, on Saturday in Fairfax.

• A-10 leading scorer Josh Oduro (18.0 ppg) led Mason with team bests in points (18) and rebounds (9). He's averaging 24.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks over the past three games he's played.

• Junior Davonte Gaines broke out of a mini offensive slump to add 16 points (4-8 FG), three assists and two steals.

• Graduate student DeVon Cooper added 14 points and made 4-of-8 3-point attempts. He ranks 17th nationally in 3pt FG% this season and his 43.3 clip on the year ranks second all time at Mason for a student-athlete with at least 150 attempts.

• Cooper needs just two 3-pointers to reach 200 for his career. When he gets there, the Patriots will be one of just 21 programs nationally to have two players with 200+ career triples (D'Shawn Schwartz).

• Junior point guard Xavier Johnson dished out a team-best nine assists vs. VCU and added 11 points. He's notched at least nine assists in three of the past four games.

• The Patriots rank 19th nationally and second in the A-10 with 9.7 3pt FG made/game. That's a school record by a sizable margin (7.3/game, 1987-88). Mason needs just seven more 3-pointers to break the school record of 230 total 3s, set in 2017-18.

• In A-10 contests, Mason leads the A-10 in 3pt FG made/game (9.6) and is second in 3pt FG% (.398). Cooper is shooting 48.4 percent from deep in league play (30-62), while Schwartz is at 41.8 percent (28-67).

• Patriot foes are shooting 51.3 percent from the floor and 45.7 percent from 3pt range over the past two games. In A-10 play, Mason opponents are shooting 37.4 percent from 3pt range (12th in league).

• Mason is ranked 107th in the latest NCAA NET rankings. The Patriots also are #109 in KenPom.

JOHNSON PUTTING TOGETHER CAREER SEASON
Junior Xavier Johnson has developed into one of the top point guards in the A-10 this season. He ranks seventh in the league and 33rd nationally in assists/game (5.1) and is seventh in the conference in A/TO ratio (1.84). In league play, he has upped his assists to 6.0 per game (third in A-10) while impressively increasing his shooting numbers to 45.5 percent overall and 43.3 percent from 3pt range. He's averaging 10.1 points/game in A-10 play. He is the first Patriot since 2003-04 to average more than five assists per game.

HISTORY vs. SAINT JOSEPH'S
Wednesday's matchup marks the 145h all-time meeting between Mason and Saint Joseph's. Mason leads the series, 9-5, and has won nine of the past 10 meetings. The Patriots have won the last four matchups on Hawk Hill. In the most recent meeting, the Patriots won 77-71 on Jan. 24 in EagleBank Arena. Mason trailed 37-33 at the break and 66-64 with 4:45 to go during a thrilling back-and-forth game which featured 12 ties and 13 lead changes. But the Patriots clamped down to get stops and come out on top. The Patriots held SJU to two field goals over the final five minutes while outscoring the visitors, 13-5. Josh Oduro exploded for a game-high 31 points (12-22 FG), to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals in an outstanding overall effort. D'Shawn Schwartz added 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

HISTORY vs. THE BIG 5
Mason is 21-13 all time against members of Philadelphia's "Big 5." Mason is 9-5 against Saint Joseph's, 7-3 vs. La Salle, 1-4 against Villanova and 4-1 vs. Penn. The Patriots have never played Temple. Mason's most memorable Big Five win came in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, when the Green & Gold knocked off Villanova, 61-57, in the Round of 64 in Cleveland, Ohio. Harkening back to the old CAA days, Mason also has battled "City Six" school Drexel on 22 occasions while amassing a record of 14-8. Earlier this season, Mason defeated Penn 87-66 on Nov. 12 in Fairfax, knocked off the Hawks 77-71 on Jan. 24 in EBA and fell to La Salle 83-78 on Feb. 5 in Philly.

A LOOK AT THE HAWKS (10-13, 4-8 A-10; KenPom 150, NET 159)
Saint Joseph's was picked to finish 10th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. The Hawks rank 91st nationally in tempo and get 38.2 percent of their scoring from 3pt range (29th nationally). The Hawks own wins over Georgetown (77-74), Temple (68-49) and Richmond (83-56) this season. Sophomore Jordan Hall leads the team in scoring (14.3 ppg), grabs 6.8 rebounds per contest and is fourth nationally in assists per game (6.4). Senior Taylor Funk chips in 13.9 points per game and shoots 38.3 percent from beyond the arc (4th in A-10).

UP NEXT
Mason remains on the road for a 2 p.m. contest at Fordham on Sunday in the Bronx. The game will be televised nationally on USA Network.