WHERE: Capital One Arena
WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m.
RECORDS: George Mason (26-7, 15-3), VCU (27-6, 15-3)
TELEVISION: CBS 
STREAMING: Paramount+
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
TICKETS: Click here 
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)

PRE-GAME PEP RALLY: Starts at 11 a.m. at Yard House (812 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001)

WASHINGTON - The second-seeded George Mason University men's basketball team (26-7, 15-3) squares off with No. 1 VCU (27-6, 15-3) in Sunday's A-10 Championship Final at Capital One Arena.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Rams is set for 1 p.m. 

MEDIA COVERAGE
Sunday's A-10 Final will be broadcast nationally on CBS and Paramount+, featuring commentary from Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner and AJ Ross. In addition, Voice of the Patriots Bill Rohland will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with streaming coverage beginning at 12:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
• It's George Mason's first A-10 title game berth in school history and its first appearance in a conference championship game since the 2009 CAA Tournament. GMU last won a conference tournament title in 2008.

• The Patriots are 24-4 (.852) over their last 28 games.

• George Mason has reached 15 league and 26 overall victories for the first time in the program's A-10 history (2013-). It's just the third time in school annals GMU has posted 26+ victories. The other two teams (2005-06, 2010-11) to accomplish the feat won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament.

• The Patriots reached the final with a 74-64 semifinal win over Saint Joseph's Saturday. GMU dished out a school A-10 Tournament-record 20 assists in the win and shot 51 percent from the floor.

• First Team All-A-10 selection Jalen Haynes led the Patriots with a team-high 22 points (9-15 FG). He also set a new career-high and tied the GMU A-10 Championship record with six assists. He's averaging 23.0 points in two A-10 Tournament contests.

• All-A-10 Third Team pick Darius Maddox added 19 points vs. SJU and is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 50 percent in his two A-10 Tournament games.

• With his third triple vs. SJU, Maddox tied Coach Skinn for 16th on the all-time GMU 3pt FG made list (125).

• A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Jared Billups is averaging 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 steals/game in the tournament. His five steals vs. GW in the quarterfinals set a new GMU A-10 Tournament record.

• Through two A-10 Championship contests, the Patriots are shooting 53.8 percent (56-104) from the floor, 47.1 percent (16-34) from 3pt range and 81.3 percent (26-32) from the free throw line. Opponents are shooting 37.1 percent overall and 28.8 percent from 3.

• George Mason (23rd, 0.956 points/possession allowed) and VCU (21st, .955 ppp) each sport top-25 defenses nationally. GMU also is fourth in the country in effective FG defense (.449) and sixth in 2pt defense (.445).

• A-10 Coach of the Year Tony Skinn ('06) sports an overall win percentage of .708 (46-19) and is at 66.7 percent (24-12) in A-10 games over his first two seasons.

• The Patriots are 7-0 in their last seven contests decided by five points or less and 3-0 in their last three overtime games.

• The Patriots are 21-2 when shooting 30 percent or better from from 3pt range on the season.

• George Mason is ranked 73rd nationally in the Mar. 14 NET. GM also is 78th in the Ken Pomeroy rankings.

HISTORY vs. VCU
Sunday's game marks the 71st all-time meeting between old CAA and current A-10 foes George Mason and VCU. Mason is 12-16 at home, 9-24 on the road and 1-8 on neutral courts vs. the Rams (22-48 overall). The two teams have not met on a neutral floor since the 2017 A-10 Championship Quarterfinals.   

Earlier this year, VCU won the lone regular season matchup, 70-54, in Richmond on Feb. 22. George Mason led 24-23 at the half, but nine second half turnovers by the Patriots helped the Rams fuel a 15-0 run that created separation between the teams early in the second stanza. The Green &  Gold ended the game with 14 turnovers and the Rams held a +11 (20-9) edge in points off turnovers for the contest.

The Patriots held the Rams to 24 percent (6-25) in the first half, but VCU connected on 15-of-29 attempts (.517) in the second half and made seven triples in the period. Darius Maddox notched 12 points and three rebounds, while K.D. Johnson added 12 points and team highs in assists (3) and steals (2). Jalen Haynes added 10 points and eight rebounds, while Woody Newton chipped in eight points (3-4 FG, 2-3 3pt).

GM shot 35.4 percent for the game and made 5-of-19 3-pointers (.263).