WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
RECORDS: George Mason (26-8), Samford (22-10)
SERIES: First meeting
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The second-seeded George Mason men's basketball team (26-8) opens the National Invitation Tournament Wednesday with a home contest vs. No. 7 Samford (22-10).

Tip-off between the Patriots and Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Anish Shroff and Brandon Johnson. 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
• It's George Mason's fifth NIT appearance in school history and first since 2009. The Patriots will host their first home game in the event since 2004.

• The Patriots are 24-5 (.828) over their last 29 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. A win vs. Samford would match the school record for victories in a season (27: 2005-06, 2010-11).

• GMU earned a share of the A-10 regular season title for the first time in school history.

• The Patriots also reached their first A-10 Final in program history this past Sunday vs. VCU. It marked the team's first appearance in a conference title game since 2009.

• A-10 Coach of the Year Tony Skinn ('06) sports an overall win percentage of .697 (46-20) and is at 66.7 percent (24-12) in A-10 games over his first two seasons.

• Team captain Jared Billups is the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and is one of 30 finalists for the Lefty Driesell Award, given to the nation's top defensive player.

• First Team All-A-10 selection Jalen Haynes and third team All-A-10 pick Darius Maddox also earned spots on the A-10 All Tournament Team. Haynes averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in DC, while Maddox was at 14.0 points, 2.0 steals and shot 37.5 percent from 3-point range.

• Wednesday's game pits the nation's 12th ranked scoring offense (Samford, 83.3 ppg) against the country's 12th ranked scoring defense (63.3 ppg).

• George Mason ranks second in the nation in FG defense (.379) while also ranking high in effective FG defense (5th .450), 2pt defense (6th, .446) and 3pt defense (17th, .302). The Patriots are 22nd in overall defensive efficiency (0.956 points/possession).

• George Mason is 17-1 at home this season and swept its A-10 home schedule (9-0) for the first time since the Patriots joined the league in 2013-14. GMU is 31-4 at home under head coach Tony Skinn ('06). The team's 17 home wins this season is a school record.

• The Patriots are 7-1 in their last eight contests decided by five points or less and 3-0 in their last three overtime games.

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

• George Mason is ranked 68th nationally in the Mar. 18 NET. GM also is 78th in the Ken Pomeroy rankings.

GEORGE MASON'S NIT HISTORY
George Mason's 2025 NIT bid is the fifth in program history and first since 2009. The Patriots are 3-4 all time in the event, highlighted by a trip to the Round of 16 in 2004 which featured wins over Tennessee and Austin Peay. Head coach Tony Skinn was a sophomore on that 2003-04 Patriots team and averaged 10.3 points/game over the three NIT games for the Green & Gold.

HISTORY vs. SAMFORD
Wednesday's game marks the first ever meeting between George Mason and Samford in men's basketball.

A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS (22-10, 12-6 SOCON; KenPom #116, NET #116)
Samford went 22-10 during the season and tallied a 12-6 SoCon record, before falling in the league tournament to Furman. The Bulldogs feature the #77 KenPom offense (1.125 points/possession) and are the 25th fastest team in the country (70.9 possessions/game). Samford makes 10.8 3-pointers/game (ninth nationally). Defensively, the Bulldogs rank third nationally in steals/game (10.0) and are fourth in turnovers forced/game (16.31). All-SoCon Third Team pick Trey Fort (14.9 ppg) leads the team in scoring, while Jaden Brownell adds 13.6 points/contest. All-SoCon Second Team selection Rylan Jones is at 11.0 points per game and leads the SoCon with 5.2 assists/contest. SoCon Sixth Man of the Year Josh Holloway leads a bench unit which ranks 24th nationally in points/game (28.56).

UP NEXT
With a victory Wednesday, the Patriots would move on to the NIT Second Round and host the winner of No. 3 Bradley/No. 6 North Alabama. The game would be held at EagleBank Arena either Saturday, March 22, or Sunday, March 23.