WASHINGTON DC — It is really hard to beat a team three times.
That’s a common phrase thrown around ESPN, FOX, etc. in football and college basketball.
On Thursday, that is exactly what No. 5 George Mason did to No. 13 Massachusetts in the 2018 Atlantic 10 Tournament. No buzzer beater nor overtime needed. The Patriots won 80-75 to advance to the quarterfinals at Capital One Arena.
It wasn’t a pretty game. Heck, honestly it wasn’t a game that George Mason should have won. UMass sophomore Luwane Pipkins had another stellar performance when the pressure was on. With 31 points he led all scorers and made five three-pointers. He was so good Mason’s best defender, Justin Kier, could not slow him down.
But bottom line, George Mason won and quite frankly the Patriots are long overdue to win a game they should have lost. In my personal opinion, the Patriots got bailed out with a call that should not have been made. But Mason has sure been on the opposite end of these results quite a few times.
They stayed in this game by offensive rebounds. Shooting only 36 percent from the field, the Patriots got 20 boards on the offensive glass to keep them alive. Resulting in second chance points, it didn’t mater how ugly the Patriots’ offense looked. They got 26 extra points off second chance opportunities, UMass had six.
At one point they were down 14 points, doubled up 28-14 in the first half. The Minutemen shot 53 percent from the field and an even better 56 percent (9-16) from behind the arc.
It wasn’t the traditional guys either that carried the team to a comeback. Greg Calixte and A.J. Wilson combined for 12 offensive boards. Wilson, came one rebound shy of his first career double-double.
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Fellow freshman Javon Greene stepped in when Kier was half a step off defensively. He got two of the games’ 15 steals off of Pipkins and hit three three-pointers when no one else was feeling it from long range.
Still Otis Livingston II got his points (21), but 14 of them came from the charity stripe. In the contest, the junior shot a dreary 3-11 from the field.
Jaire Grayer got a significant amount of rebounds (seven), but went 1-for-9 from the field. Kier was not much better at 3-for-13.
The four freshmen scored 46 points, the four non-freshmen scored 34.
That has never happened this season.
With Livingston, Grayer, and Kier having relative off-nights, the Patriots emerged victorious. If this production off the bench from Wilson and Greene, who combined for 22 points, can be complimented by Livingston and Grayer, look out. If Calixte can take command of the post again, look out. If there are four guys, and at least one coming from the bench, that can reach double figures, look out.
One constant that Dave Paulsen has stressed this season is that they want to get better each and every game. So far, so good and if that’s the case, their best game is just around the corner.
On to No. 4 Saint Joseph’s tomorrow, same time, same place, and hopefully for Mason, the same result.
