Box Score (PDF)
Photo credit: Chris Kohley
CHICAGO – The George Mason University men's basketball team could not overcome a difficult shooting performance in a 69-61 setback at Loyola Chicago on Saturday afternoon inside Gentile Arena.
The Green & Gold did an outstanding job drawing fouls throughout the game and converted a solid 78.1 percent of their attempts (25-32) for the contest. But Mason struggled from the floor, going 26.1 percent (6-23) in the second half and 32 percent for the game (16-50). That marked a season low for Mason in 2022-23.
"This was not our best game," head coach
Kim English said. "I thought Loyola played really hard. We battled back to make it a game and had some opportunities to take over the game. We didn't. A bounce of the ball or blow of the whistle went in a different direction. We'll watch it, learn from it and see how we can keep getting better."
Three Patriots scored 14 points to lead the offensive charge. Junior
Malik Henry made 5-of-6 field goal attempts and tied his career best with seven rebounds. He averaged 14.5 points in the two games against the Ramblers this season.
Ronald Polite III notched 14 points and dished out a team-high four assists, while
DeVon Cooper notched 14 points and made 6-of-6 free throw attempts. Senior
Josh Oduro added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Mason held a +9 (41-32) edge on the glass for the game and grabbed 11 offensive boards.
The Patriots missed 16 of their first 20 shots, allowing the Ramblers to build an early 19-9 advantage. Loyola led 29-20 with 3:20 to go in the first half, but at that point, the Patriots brought in pressure defense to create transition opportunities and capitalized. A 6-0 run cut the Rambler edge to three (32-29). Loyola took a 34-29 edge into halftime.
The Green & Gold rattled off seven straight points early in the second half to tie it up at 38-38. With the score knotted at 45-45, Loyola rattled off a 7-2 spurt to go up 52-47. Then, the Ramblers extended it to seven (56-49) with 4:58 left.
The Patriots moved within four (65-61) with 1:35 remaining but that's as close as Mason could get for the rest of the game. The Patriots got stops down the stretch but could not put the ball into the basket on the other end of the floor.
Next up, George Mason heads to the Steel City for a Wednesday night contest at Duquesne. The 7 p.m. matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.
