The situation did not set up well for the George Mason Patriots in preparation for their home contest against the Massachusetts Minutemen. The Patriots were without Greg Calixte, on an already depleted roster, and still had to go toe-to-toe with a rare true center in the Atlantic 10.
But after limited minutes in recent games, AJ Wilson stepped onto the court and changed the game in an atypical way.
UMass is home to one of the most imposing post players in the league, Rashaan Holloway. A fifth-year senior standing at 6-11, 310 pounds, he towered over anyone on Mason’s roster. His backup, Djery Baptiste was also 6-10 and wasn’t much easier to match-up against.
The tallest players that were available for the Patriots’ were 6-7.
Wilson was one of them and he had a big role to fill on Wednesday evening. He was the lone backup forward behind Jarred Reuter and Jordan Miller. Calixte was forced to miss the contest because of a concussion he got in the previous contest.
“I thought A.J. Wilson did a great job for us in Greg Calixte’s absence,” head coach Dave Paulsen said. “He really had not played a lot in the last bit. So, he was ready when his number was called and that’s a tribute to him.”
Before this contest Wilson only played 25 minutes in the previous eight games.
UP TO EXPECTATIONS: This is the Jarred Reuter that George Mason expected to see
Almost immediately Wilson was put into the contest, four minutes after the tip. Holloway was his match-up. High elbows, and the fact that Wilson gives Holloway an extra 100 pounds, got the redshirt sophomore flustered early. However, Wilson quickly learned how to exploit the match-up, with fouls.
Granted, Holloway is not the post-monster that he has been for the Minutemen over the past five years. This season he’s been mostly limited minutes-wise for a variety of factors. Still, he scores nearly 10 points a contest and at a 72 percent clip.
But UMass is a completely different team when Holloway is on the court. Every time the ball got down low to him, Mason pressed a double team. All Holloway had to do was find the open shooter, which he did for four assists.
He was such a difference maker that midway through the second half, with his team trailing by two, he had a plus-16 in the plus-minus department.
Wilson made sure to get Holloway off the court. In less than a minute of his second check-in of the second half, Wilson drew an offensive foul from the 6-11 center. Holloway lowered a shoulder as he tried to establish a spot in the center of the lane. Wilson took a hard tumble and it resulted in the fourth foul of the night for Holloway with 9:41 to go in the final half.
It was one of three offensive fouls that the 6-7 forward drew for Mason, the second against Holloway.
At the time Mason had a two-point lead and it took Holloway out for four minutes. Matt McCall did a brilliant job of subbing him on and off the rest of the way into the extra period so he didn’t pick up his fifth foul.
It took overtime for the Patriots to knock off the Minutemen, but it might not have gotten there if Holloway stayed in. Holloway finished with a ridiculous plus-25 in 17 minutes of action. The only other UMass player in the positive was Jonathan Laurent (plus-three).
Without Holloway on the floor, UMass was outscored by 30 points. Absolutely stunning, and a lot of credit for limiting that plus-25 has to go to Wilson.
A.J. Wilson played 13 minutes tonight (5 pts, 3 rebs, 3 blks, 1 steal). The most minutes he's played since Jan. 9 vs. Davidson.
— Tyler Byrum (@theTylerByrum) February 14, 2019
“AJ [Wilson] drew a couple of offensive fouls just using his quickness. I don’t know what he gave up, a couple hundred pounds [to Holloway],” Paulsen said.
POSTGAME POD: It is guaranteed to be a close game when Mason and UMass play
