WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.
RECORDS: George Mason (8-4), Mt. St. Mary's (8-4)
SERIES: George Mason trails, 7-10
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
TICKETS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

PROMOTION: Family Day! Free Face Painter/Balloon Artist, Post-Game Team Autographs, $10 GA Tickets

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team (8-4) wraps up non-conference play with a Saturday afternoon contest vs. Mt. St. Mary's (8-4).

Tip-off between the Patriots and Mountaineers is set for 2 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Voice of the Patriots Bill Rohland and former George Mason standout Chris Fleming ('09). In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots opened their two-game homestand with an 85-53 victory over Penn on Dec. 22. GM held a 50-28 scoring edge in the second half and shot 63.3 percent in the stanza.

• Senior Jalen Haynes led the Patriots vs. Penn with his seventh-straight game in double figures and his third double-double in the past four contests. He notched team highs in points (15, 7-9 FG) and rebounds in the victory. Over the past five games, he's averaging 18.6 points, 9.4 rebounds and shooting 59.7 percent (40-67) from the floor.

• Senior Darius Maddox dished out a career-best six assists and added 10 points. He is now just 29 points away from 1,000 for his career.

• Giovanni Emejuru (12 points), Jared Billups (11), Justin Begg (10) and Jared Billups (10) also reached double figures in the win.

• GM distributed a season-best 20 assists vs. Penn, marking the team's highest assist output since a Dec. 23, 2022 win over Coppin State.

• The Patriots committed just seven turnovers in Sunday's win and shot 50 percent from 3. That improved the Green & Gold to 6-1 this season when tallying fewer than 15 turnovers and 7-1 when shooting better than 30 percent from beyond the arc.

• George Mason's 85-53 victory over Penn marked its Div. I school-record fourth win this season by 30+ points. It's the most since the Patriots tallied five 30+ point triumphs in 1974-75.

• George Mason ranks fourth nationally in FG defense (.353) while ranking in the top-20 in 2pt defense (5th, .416), effective FG defense (7th, .420) and 3pt defense (22nd, .284). The Patriots are 17th overall in scoring defense (62.7 ppg allowed) and 38th in defensive efficiency (0.980 points/possession).

• Those FG defense averages are tracking well ahead of the program's previous single season records, including overall FG defense (.388, 2005-06) and 3pt defense (.301, 2022-23).

• George Mason's reserves account for 37.5 percent of the team's total minutes, which ranks 55th in the country. The Patriots hold a +124 (321-197) edge in bench scoring on the year and outscore opponent reserves by an average of 10.3 points/game. GM ranks second in the A-10 in bench points/game (26.75).

• The Patriots are ranked 88th nationally in the Dec. 27 NET. GM also is 83rd 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.

• George Mason is 7-1 at home this season and 35-6 (.854) in its last 41 games inside EagleBank Arena. GM is 15-1 in non-conference home contests under head coach Tony Skinn ('06).

HISTORY vs. MT. ST. MARY'S
Saturday's game marks the 18th all-time meeting between George Mason and Mt. St. Mary's in men's basketball. However, the two teams have met just twice 1990. The Mountaineers hold a 10-7 edge in the all time series, with the bulk of the matchups coming when both teams were a part of the Mason-Dixon Conference in the 1970s. In the most recent matchup between the programs, the Mountaineers won a 78-76 contest in overtime on Nov. 18, 2016, in Fairfax.

HISTORY vs. MAAC FOES
The Patriots are 24-22 (.522) all time against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. GM's most common opponents are Mt. St. Mary's (7-10), Manhattan (4-1) and Niagara (3-2). In the most recent matchup with a MAAC program, Mt. St. Mary's won a 78-76 contest in overtime on Nov. 18, 2016, in Fairfax.

A LOOK AT THE MOUNTAINEERS (8-4, 0-0 MAAC; NET #204, KenPom #235)
Mt. St. Mary's was picked to finish 11th out of 13 teams in the MAAC preseason poll, but the Mountaineers have impressed thus far with an 8-4 mark, highlighted by a 78-74 OT win at Miami on Dec. 21. The Mount leads the MAAC and ranks 64th nationally in free throws made per game (16.4). Dallas Hobbs leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) and dishes out 3.7 assists per contest. Dola Adebayo adds 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest, while Terrell Ard Jr. is at 11.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 54.2 percent from the floor.

UP NEXT
George Mason opens Atlantic 10 play with a New Year's Eve showdown against Davidson inside EagleBank Arena. Tip-off between the Patriots and Wildcats is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.