Northern Neck Times

George Mason University Athletic Department issued the following announcement on Jan. 23

The George Mason University men's basketball team (8-7, 1-1) hosts Saint Joseph's (8-9, 2-4) in a rare Monday night A-10 contest inside EagleBank Arena.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Hawks is set for 7 p.m. Monday's contest will be broadcast on ESPN+. Bill Rohland will handle play-by-play duties. In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS

• Mason picked up its first league win of the season Saturday with a 60-59 home triumph over top-75 foe Dayton. The Patriots held the Flyers to just two field goals over the final 9+ minutes of play.

• The Patriots limited the Flyers to 31 percent from the floor, marking a season-low for a Patriot opponent this season. Mason held the Flyers, which entered the game 15th nationally in 2pt FG percentage (.563), to a season-low 37.1 percent (13-35) from inside the arc.

• The victory marked Mason's lowest scoring output in a win since a 48-45 victory over Boston University on Nov. 24, 2012.

• Junior Josh Oduro returned to the lineup Saturday and made a tremendous impact on both sides of the floor. He tallied his third double-double of the year and sixth of his career (14 pts, 10 reb) while notching a game-high four blocks in the win.

• Graduate student D'Shawn Schwartz tallied a game-high 17 points (3-7 3pt FG) and added six rebounds vs. UD. He's averaging a team-best 22 points/game through two A-10 contests while chipping in 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists/contest.

• The Patriots rank 33rd nationally in effective FG% (.542), 49th in 2pt FG% (.543) and 59th in 3pt FG% (.361) this season.

• Oduro ranks second in the A-10 and 25th nationally in field goal percentage (.574). He is one of just six players in the country this season to average 16 or more points, shoot 56 percent or better from the floor and tally at least 1.5 blocks per game.

• Mason made 10 3-pointers on 25 attempts vs. UD (.400). The Patriots shoot 40.6 percent from beyond the arc in wins this season and just 31.2 percent in losses.

• The Patriots rank 35th nationally and third in the A-10 with 9.5 3pt FG made/game. That's a school record by a sizable margin (7.3/game, 1987-88).

• Schwartz is just seven 3-pointers away from 200 for his career. He would become just the sixth player who's worn a Mason uniform to reach the 200-triple milestone.

• Mason is in the midst of a stretch in which it plays five of seven games inside EagleBank Arena.

• After playing just three games in 27 days from Dec. 21 to Jan. 17, Mason is now in a stretch of three games in five days, which began with the contest at Dayton.

THE ONLY SURE THING ABOUT LUCK IS THAT IT WILL CHANGE

The Patriots entered Saturday's game vs. Dayton ranked 348th out of 358 Div. I teams in Ken Pomeroy's luck statistic, a measure of the deviation between a team's actual winning percentage and what one would expect from its game-by-game efficiencies. Mason has dropped some close contests that, with a few bounces of the ball, could've  had a different outcome. The Patriots have been particularly unlucky at the free throw line, where opponents shoot an impressive 76.2 percent. That ranks Mason 339th in the nation and teams have often shot far better than their season averages at the charity stripe against the Patriots. The Green & Gold jumped 17 spots in the luck metric after the 1-point win over Dayton.

HISTORY vs. SAINT JOSEPH'S

Monday's matchup marks the 14th all-time meeting between Mason and Saint Joseph's. Mason leads the series, 8-5, and has won eight of the past nine meetings. The Patriots have won three straight in Fairfax. Last season, Mason swept the two-game series, starting with an 87-85, double overtime victory on Jan. 20 in EBA. The Patriots then won 71-62 in Philly on Jan. 23. Josh Oduro averaged 13.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the two  games last season while making 57.1 percent (12-21) of his field goal attempts. He tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds in the home victory.

HISTORY vs. THE BIG 5

Mason is 20-12 all time against members of Philadelphia's "Big 5." Mason is 8-5 against Saint Joseph's, 7-2 vs. La Salle, 1-4 against Villanova and 4-1 vs. Penn. The Patriots have never played Temple. Mason's most memorable Big Five win came in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, when the Green & Gold knocked off Villanova, 61-57, in the Round of 64 in Cleveland, Ohio. Harkening back to the old CAA days, Mason also has battled "City Six" school Drexel on 22 occasions while amassing a record of 14-8. Earlier this season, Mason defeated Penn 87-66 on Nov. 12 in Fairfax.

A LOOK AT THE HAWKS (8-9, 2-4 A-10; KenPom 160, NET 173)

Saint Joseph's was picked to finish 10th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. The Hawks are a top-150 KenPom defensive team and hold opponents to just 44.8 percent inside the arc (44th nationally). The Hawks get 36 percent of their scoring from 3pt range (64th nationally). The Hawks own wins over Georgetown (77-74), Temple (68-49) and Richmond (83-56) this season. Sophomore Jordan Hall leads the team in scoring (15.1 ppg), grabs 6.6 rebounds per contest and is eighth nationally in assists per game (6.4). Senior Taylor Funk chips in 14.6 points per game, is seventh in the A-10 in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and shoots 41.3 percent from beyond the arc (4th in A-10).

UP NEXT

Mason wraps up its three-game homestand with a Wednesday night contest vs. preseason A-10 favorite St. Bonaventure. Tip-off between the Patriots and Bonnies is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Original source can be found here.