WHERE: Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, N.C.
WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
RECORDS: George Mason (7-3), #5/5 Duke (8-2, 1-0 ACC)
SERIES: Duke leads, 3-0
TELEVISION: ACC Network
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. - George Mason (7-3) heads to Durham for a Tuesday night matchup with No. 5/5 Duke (8-2, 1-0) inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Blue Devils is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ACC Network, featuring commentary from Matt Schumacker and Dan Bonner. In addition, Voice of the Patriots Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots enter Tuesday's contest riding a five-game win streak. Most recently, GM knocked off Tulane 76-64 on Dec. 7 in Fairfax and took a sizable 45-27 lead into the break. GM controlled the glass while holding a +9 (37-28) rebounding edge against the 33rd-largest team in the nation. The Patriots are 6-1 when winning the rebounding battle this season.

• Junior Brayden O'Connor led GM with a season-best 17 points and a team-high five assists while matching his personal best with seven field goals on just 10 attempts. He's averaging a team-high 4.4 assists during the 5-game  win streak.

• Senior Darius Maddox returned from an ankle injury to add 17 points (3-6 3pt FG) and a season-high three assists.

• Senior Jalen Haynes added his second-straight double-double with 15 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. He's scored 10+ points in each of the past five games and is averaging 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and shooting 61.5 percent (24-39) over the last three contests.

• GM committed 12 turnovers vs. Tulane which improved the Patriots to a perfect 5-0 when committing fewer than 15 turnovers. George Mason averages 11.9 turnovers/game in wins, but 17.7 in losses. GM is 287th nationally in turnovers/contest (13.6).

• George Mason ranks third nationally in FG defense (.354) while ranking in the top-15 in effective FG defense (4th, .418), 2pt defense (8th, .423) and 3pt defense (17th, .275). The Patriots are 22nd overall in scoring defense (63.1 ppg allowed) and 49th in defensive efficiency (0.987 points/possession).

• George Mason has excelled at getting to the free throw line this season. GM is +58 (189-135) vs. opponents in free throws made on the year and the team has made more freebies than its opponent in eight of 10 contests. GM is 20th nationally in FT made/game (18.9).

• The Patriots are ranked 86th nationally in the Dec. 16 NET. GM also is 81st in the Ken Pomeroy rankings. Prior to the campaign, the Patriots earned a spot in the preseason KenPom top-100 for the first time since 2013-14.

• The Patriots have taken advantage of a deep bench throughout the course of the season. GM's bench accounts for 38 percent of the team's total minutes, which ranks 44th in the country. The Patriots hold a +104 (263-159) edge in bench scoring on the year and outscore opponent reserves by an average of 10.4 points/game.

• Tuesday's game marks GM's first road contest against a top-5 foe in 22 years (12/28/02 at No. 2 Pittsburgh).

• Two Patriots have seen action in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Darius Maddox suited up for Virginia Tech at Duke on Dec. 22, 2021, while Woody Newton hit Coach K Court for Syracuse on Feb. 22, 2021.

HISTORY vs. DUKE
Tuesday's game marks the fourth all-time meeting between George Mason and Duke in men's basketball. The Blue Devils have captured the first three matchups including wins in Durham during the 1980-81 (60-51) and 1982-83 (90-79) seasons. In the Jan. 3, 1983 matchup, GM's all-time leading scorer Carlos Yates went a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line, just one off the school record for FT attempts without a miss.

In the most recent meeting, Duke knocked off the Patriots in Cameron Indoor Stadium, 69-53, on Dec. 9, 2006. Will Thomas led the Patriots with 13 points (6-6 FG), while Folarin Campbell added 13 points and dished out six assists. Current Duke head coach Jon Scheyer notched 18 points (4-7 3pt) and six assists for the Blue Devils in the win.

HISTORY vs. ACC FOES
Mason is 4-24 all time against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Mason's most common opponents are Virginia (1-8), Louisville (0-4) and Duke (0-3). In the most recent matchup with an ACC foe, Mason fell to Boston College, 71-56, in the Paradise Jam on Nov. 18, 2022. Mason's win against Virginia came 12 seasons ago, when the Patriots defeated the Cavaliers 63-59 to open the 2012-13 season in front of a sold-out EagleBank Arena crowd of 9,840. But perhaps the Patriots' most memorable victory over an ACC team came in 2006, when Mason defeated No. 3 seed North Carolina in the NCAA second round during the program's iconic run to the Final Four.

A LOOK AT #5/5 DUKE (8-2, 1-0 ACC; NET #3, KenPom #3)
Duke was picked to win the ACC in the league's 2024-25 preseason poll. The Blue Devils are 8-2 to begin the campaign, highlighted by wins at No. 17 Arizona (69-55) on Nov. 22 and vs. No. 2 Auburn (84-78) on Dec. 4. Duke opened the ACC slate with a 76-65 win at Louisville on Dec. 8. The Blue Devils rank second in the nation in defensive efficiency (0.89 points/possession) and are sixth in effective field goal percentage defense (.424). Preseason AP All-America selection Cooper Flagg leads the team in scoring (15.9 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg), assists (3.6 apg) and blocks (1.4 bpg). Kon Knueppel adds 12.2 points per contest, while Tyrese Proctor chips in 11.7 points/contest and shoots 41.5 percent (27-65) from 3pt range. Duke is the tallest team in the country (79.6"/player).

MASON ALL TIME VS. TOP-10 TEAMS
George Mason is 2-13 all time against AP Top-10 teams. Both victories came during the 2006 run to the Final Four, when Mason dispatched of No. 10 North Carolina in the Round of 32, then upset No. 2 UConn in the Elite Eight. The Patriots have not suited up against a top-10 foe since a New Year's Day contest at No. 6 Kansas in 2021.

GAMES vs. TOP-10 TEAMS
1981-82: 11/29 at #7 Virginia L, 57-76
1985-86: 12/3 vs. #6 Georgetown L, 63-75
1988-89: 3/17 #8 Indiana L, 85-99 (NCAA Round of 64)
1994-95: 12/22 at #2 UCLA L, 100-137*
2002-03: 12/28 at #2 Pitt L, 41-65
2003-04: 12/7 at #10 UNC L 81-115
2005-06: 3/19 #10 UNC W, 65-60 (NCAA Round of 32), 3/26 #2 UConn W, 86-84 (OT) (NCAA Elite Eight)
2006-07: 12/9 at #7 Duke L, 53-69
2010-11: 3/20 vs. #1 Ohio State L, 66-98 (NCAA Round of 32)
2013-14: 2/19 vs. #10 Saint Louis L, 85-89 (OT)
2015-16: 11/22 vs. #6 Virginia L, 66-83 (Charleston Classic)
2019-20: 11/22 at #6 Maryland L, 63-86
2019-20: 2/25 vs. #4 Dayton L, 55-62
2020-21: 1/1 at #6 Kansas L, 67-76
*National Champions

UP NEXT
George Mason returns to EagleBank Arena for a Sunday matinee against Penn. Tip-off on Dec. 22 between the Patriots and Quakers is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.