WHERE: Robins Center - Richmond, Va.
WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m. 
RECORDS: George Mason (13-3, 2-1), Richmond (10-5, 2-0)
SERIES: Richmond leads, 41-29
LAST MEETING: Mason def. Richmond, 62-57, on March 8, 2023, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
TELEVISION: MASN
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (13-3, 2-1) begins a two-game road trip Saturday with a trip to Richmond (10-5, 2-0) to battle the Spiders.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Spiders is set for 6 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised on MASN and streamed on ESPN+. In addition, Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots are 13-3 to begin the season and are 70th in the NCAA NET rankings. Mason also checks in at 91st in KenPom, which is the program's best regular season ranking in the metric since November 2013.

• The Patriots are 3-1 on the road this season. Mason and St. Bonaventure are the only two A-10 programs with three away victories so far this season.

• The Patriots saw their six-game winning streak come to an end Tuesday night as VCU escaped Fairfax with a 54-50 victory.

• Mason limited the Rams to 35.3 percent (18-51) from the floor, but the Patriots struggled from deep while shooting 0-of-15 from 3pt range. It marked the first time the Patriots failed to make a 3 since February 2009 and just the second time since 1998.

• Sophomore Keyshawn Hall led Mason with 14 points (6-12 FG) against the Rams. He's averaging 21.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and shooting 53.7 percent in three A-10 games.

• Hall ranks fifth nationally in defensive rebounds/game (8.1), 12th in double-doubles (8) and 36th in overall rebounding (9.3 rpg). He leads the A-10 in all three of those categories and is fourth in the conference in scoring in league games (21.0 ppg).

• The Patriots feature one of the most potent defenses in the country. Mason ranks sixth nationally in 2pt FG defense (.424), eighth in overall FG defense (.382) and 42nd in scoring defense (64.8 ppg). The Patriots allow 0.994 points/possession (70th).

• The Patriots have yet to allow an opponent to shoot 50 percent from the floor over 16 games. That's the longest stretch for a Mason team to begin a season since 2011-12.

• Graduate forward Amari Kelly notched 10 points (5-8 FG) against VCU. It marked his fifth-straight game in which he has reached double figures.

• The Patriots are best when they feature a balanced scoring attack. Mason is 7-0 when four or more players reach double figures and 6-3 when three or less student-athletes tally 10+ points.

• Wednesday's setback to VCU marked the first time this season Mason lost when winning the rebounding battle (12-1).

• Head coach Tony Skinn's 13-3 record marks the best-ever start by a Mason first-year head coach.

• Mason's 13-3 start matches the 1983-84 and 2008-09 teams for the best in program history. The 2008-09 team moved as high as 14-3 while the 1983-84 squad reached 15-3. The Patriots tallied 11 non-conference wins this season for just the second time in the past 40 campaigns.

HISTORY vs. RICHMOND
Saturday's game will mark the 71st all-time meeting between George Mason and Richmond in men's basketball (Mason trails 29-41). The Patriots are 17-13 vs. the Spiders in Fairfax and 9-21 in games played in Richmond (3-7 on neutral courts). Mason has four-straight in the series. That includes a three-game sweep in 2022-23, featuring a 62-58 win in Fairfax on Dec. 31, a 62-60 victory inside the Robins Center on March 4 and an A-10 Second Round triumph in Brooklyn, 62-57, on March 8. Then-junior Ronald Polite III averaged 16.7 points, 3.3 assists and shot 46.7 percent in the three games last season, including a career-best 22 points in the home contest.

A LOOK AT THE SPIDERS (10-5, 2-0 A-10; NET #89, KenPom #97)
Richmond was picked 11th in the A-10 preseason poll, but has had an excellent start to the season while going 8-5 in non-conference play and 2-0 in A-10 contests. The Spiders own top-100 wins over UNLV and St. Bonaventure. Richmond features a top-50 KenPom defense (0.981 points/possession, 49th) and holds opponents to a .453 effective field goal percentage (20th nationally). Jordan King leads the Spiders in scoring (17.7 ppg) and is shooting 40.4 percent (36-89) from 3pt range. Neal Quinn adds 13.5 points and a team-best 3.8 assists/contest while Isaiah Bigelow tallies 11.6 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds/game.

UP NEXT
George Mason battles George Washington Monday afternoon in a nationally-televised Martin Luther King Day showdown. Tip-off in Foggy Bottom between the Patriots and Revolutionaries is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.