WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
WHEN: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
RECORDS: George Mason (9-1), Old Dominion (3-7)
SERIES: George Mason trails, 22-38
TELEVISION: USA Network
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
TICKETS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team returns home to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the 2006 Final Four run on Saturday when the Patriots host former league rival Old Dominion inside EagleBank Arena.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Monarchs is set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast nationally on USA Network, featuring commentary from Steve Schlanger and Dr. John Giannini. In addition, Voice of the Patriots Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 12:15 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots began the season 9-0 for the first time in school history. That included a Sunshine Slam tournament victory.

• GMU is coming off a 73-62 defeat at Virginia Tech on Dec. 6. The Patriots turned it over 16 times and could not overcome a 35-11 Hokie run between the first and second halves.

• Kory Mincy led the Patriots with 16 points (3-4 3pt) and a season-best eight assists in 34 minutes vs. the Hokies.

• Mincy ranks second nationally in FT percentage (.976) and 10th in 3pt percentage (.526). He leads the A-10 in scoring (18.9 ppg), while ranking second in 3pt FG made/game (3.0) and fourth in assists (4.0/game). He also leads the league in minutes/game (34:47).

• Tony Skinn's Patriot Pressure defense has returned this season, as the Green & Gold rank 29th nationally in scoring defense (65.3 ppg) and 57th in overall defensive efficiency (1.007 points/possession).

• GMU leads the A-10 and ranks fifth nationally in 3pt percentage (.409). The Patriots are shooting 44.2 percent (53-120) from deep over the past six games.

• The Patriots will play a record 10 non-conference home games this season. George Mason is an impressive 39-5 (.886) at home under Skinn's leadership.

• George Mason's defense has been stout for the majority of the season but over the last two games, opponents are averaging 77.0 points/game while shooting 48.2 percent (.393 3pt FG%).

• The Green & Gold 17th nationally in FT rate (.483) and makes 20.4 free throws/game (18th in the country).

• George Mason is 5-0 when the team scores 80+ points this season and 21-0 when the team reaches the 80-point plateau under Coach Skinn.

• The Patriots have captured nine non-conference victories with three contests remaining. GMU last won 12 non-conference games in 1983-84 and has not accomplished the feat in the program's CAA or A-10 eras.

• The Patriots enter Saturday's game ranked 55th in the NET. GMU also is No. 68 in KenPom.

FINAL FOUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
This season, the George Mason program will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the team's historic run to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. The celebration will culminate at Saturday's game vs. Old Dominion, when former coach Jim Larrañaga will have his banner raised to the EagleBank Arena rafters at halftime. Many of the team's student-athletes also will return to take part in the celebration.

The 2006 Patriots made history as the first modern "Cinderella" to reach the NCAA Final Four, capturing the nation's hearts with upset victories over Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and top-ranked Connecticut in what is widely considered the greatest Elite Eight triumph in tournament history.

Larrañaga registered 273 victories over his 14 seasons (1998-2011) as the head coach of the program and guided the Green & Gold to nine postseason appearances. That included five NCAA Tournament berths (1999, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2011) and three NIT appearances (2002, 2004, 2009). The Patriots won three CAA Championships (1999, 2001, 2008) during his tenure.

Two starters from that legendary team remain central to the program's success today. Tony Skinn has led the Patriots to 56 wins and a 71.8 winning percentage in a little more than two seasons as head coach while leading the program to its first-ever A-10 regular season title. In addition, his teammate, Lamar Butler, the 2006 NCAA East Region Most Outstanding Player, continues to contribute as George Mason's Director of Player Development, a role he has held since 2023.

HISTORY vs. OLD DOMINION
George Mason and Old Dominion, two old conference rivals, will meet for the 61st time and just the sixth occasion since George Mason left the CAA at the end of 2013. Mason is 14-12 against ODU in Fairfax, 5-25 in Norfolk and 3-1 on neutral floors against the Monarchs, including a victory in the CAA Championship Game (63-58) on Feb. 28, 1999. The Patriots lost 22 of the first 23 meetings between the schools from 1978-98, but George Mason holds a 21-16 edge since. In the most recent matchup, the Patriots fell 78-77, in Norfolk on De. 21, 2022, with ODU hitting the game-winning field goal with two seconds remaining.

A LOOK AT THE MONARCHS (3-7, 0-0 SUN BELT; NET #239, KenPom #217)
ODU was picked to finish fifth out of 14 teams in the 2025-26 Sun Belt preseason poll. The Monarchs are 3-7 to open the season but have played the No. 44 schedule in the nation to this point. KC Shaw leads ODU in scoring (14.7 ppg), while LJ Thomas adds 13.3 points and a team-best 3.5 assists/contest. Jordan Battle grabs a team-high 5.9 rebounds/contest and chips in 12.8 points per game.

UP NEXT
George Mason takes a competitive hiatus for final exams and returns to action next Sunday (Dec. 21) with a home contest vs. Loyola (Md.). Tip-off between the Patritos and Greyhounds is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+.