WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
WHEN: Monday, 7 p.m.
RECORDS: George Mason (0-0), North Carolina Central (0-0)
SERIES: George Mason leads, 2-0
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team opens the 2024-25 regular season Monday night against North Carolina Central.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Eagles is set for 7 p.m. Monday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Bill Rohland and former Patriot Chris Fleming ('09). In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. (ET).

PATRIOT POINTS
• George Mason is 34-24 (.586) all time in season openers. The Patriots are 22-8 at home, 7-14 on the road and 5-2 in neutral site debuts. GM has won five of its past seven campaign debuts.

• The Patriots are coming off a season in which GM notched 20 regular season (pre-conference tournament) wins for the first time since 2011-12 and a top-100 NET/KenPom ranking for the first time since 2010-11.

• The Green & Gold return two starters and six letter winners overall from that team, led by preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team selection Darius Maddox.

• Maddox ranked second on the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) last season and was t-7th in the A-10 in 3pt FG percentage (.414). He scored 10+ points in 25 of 29 games while ranking ninth in the league with 2.31 3pt FG made/game. His 67 triples ranked t-11th in the program's single season history.

• The Patriots were picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, released on Oct. 7 at the league's media day. GM will face four of the preseason top-5 teams on the road.

• George Mason enters the 2024-25 season as the No. 98 team in KenPom. It's the Patriots' first top-100 preseason ranking since 2013-14.

• The Patriots defeated St. Mary's (Md.) 91-62 in the team's lone exhibition outing October 26 in Fairfax. Junior Giovanni Emejuru led the team with a game-high 19 points (9-12 FG).

• Emejuru is a member of GM's talented 5-member transfer class this season, which EvanMiya.com ranked 57th nationally earlier this summer. That includes former Auburn/Georgia guard K.D. Johnson, who brings 118 games of SEC experience to Fairfax, including 35 starts.

• Johnson averaged 10.0 points over his first four seasons and enters 2024-25 ranked 27th nationally in career steals (168).

• The Patriots' four additional transfers all made significant contributions at their previous stops, including Zach Anderson (12.8 ppg, FGCU), Emejuru (11.3 ppg, Siena), Jeremiah Quigley (10.8 ppg, Iona) and Brayden O'Connor (9.9 ppg, UMass Lowell).

• Freshman Justin Begg dished out a game-high six assists vs. St. Mary's and chipped in 10 points and three steals. He's part of a three-player freshmen class which includes guard Bryson Cokley (Whiteville, N.C.) and forward Staš Sivka (Celje, Slovenia).

• The Patriots will play nine non-conference home games, the most for the program since 1983-84. GM will play four true road games in the non-conference slate for the first time since 2021-22.

MADDOX PART ELITE 3PT COMPANY AT MASON
Senior Darius Maddox proved all of last season that he is one of the top shooters in progam history. His 67 3-pointers ranked t-11th in single season program annals and he enters the 2024-25 campaign ranked third in school history in career 3pt percentage (.414).

BILLUPS' DEFENSIVE IMPACT, QUANTIFIED
Senior guard Jared Billups is one of the top defenders in the Atlantic 10. Last season, the team's defensive rating improved +6.1 while he manned the floor (81st percentile nationally) and opponents shot just 29 percent when Billups guarded as the primary defender. In addition, the team's defensive rebounding percentage increased +5.1% in Billups' presence (92nd percentile). His most notable defensive effort came against Richmond's Jordan King during a 64-46 win in Fairfax on March 9. Billups held the A-10 Co-Player of the Year to just two points on 1-of-3 shooting.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
George Mason has compiled a spectacular home record over the past two campaigns. The Patriots went 14-3 at home slate in 2023-24 and have won 28 of their past 33 games in Fairfax.

HISTORY vs. NC CENTRAL
Monday's contest marks the third all-time meeting between George Mason and NCCU in men's basketball. The Patriots have won both previous meetings. In the most recent matchup, the Green & Gold knocked off the Eagles, 78-63, on Nov. 20, 2018 in an Emerald Coast Classic game held inside EagleBank Arena. Jarred Reuter led the Patriots with a game-high 24 points (10-13 FG), while Justin Kier (12) and Ian Boyd (11) also reached double figures.

HISTORY vs. MEAC OPPONENTS
George Mason is 27-21 (.563) all time against schools currently in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Patriots' most common foes are fellow DMV programs Coppin State (9-14) and Howard (7-4). In the most recent meeting with a MEAC school, the Patriots defeated Coppin State, 91-53, on December 23, 2022.

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES (0-0, 0-0 MEAC; KenPom #255)
NC Central was picked third out of eight teams in the 2024-25 MEAC preseason poll. The Eagles are coming off a 2023-24 campaign in which they went 18-13 and posted a 9-5 mark in league play. NC Central will be led by Preseason All-MEAC First Team selection Po'Boigh King, who ranked seventh in the MEAC in scoring (14.6 ppg) and grabbed 4.7 rebounds/contest. Preseason All-MEAC Third Team pick Keishon Porter averaged 8.9 points and shot 56.7 percent from the floor a season ago. NCCU is coached by LeVelle Moton, who has led the Eagles to four NCAA Tournament appearances since taking over the program in 2009.

UP NEXT
The Patriots hit the road for a marquee matchup at No. 18/17 Marquette Friday night in Milwaukee. Tip-off inside the Al McGuire Center is set for 9 p.m. (ET). The game will be broadcast nationally on Peacock.